Mad Love
by lovelyash02
Summary: As Hilary fights to reclaim what is hers, will the past shatter her future?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Because I don't want or care enough about Devon's relationship with Mariah, this story picks up after they break up. How they break up is irrelevant as they should have never been together in the first place. Also, Jordan is out of the picture because snooze. Both Hilary and Devon are single/divorced.

* * *

 **Chapter** **1**

"As always GC, keep buzzing!"

"And cut!"

"Good show everyone," Hilary said as she gathered her notes and hurried from the stage.

"Aren't you in a rush," Mariah snarked.

Hilary did her best to ignore her smart mouthed costar as she had way more important things to do. Tonight was the night of the Hamilton Winters Charity Gala. Though the event was closed to the press, Hilary knew there was nothing keeping her from making an appearance. Especially not the lack of press credentials. Any reason to be close to Devon, she was going to take it. Even without a formal invitation. Hilary had talked herself into enough exclusive events to know how to sashay her way past security. It also didn't hurt that the event was being held in the ballroom of the GCAC where she was still staying.

"Lest you concern yourself with my social activities. Just make sure this episode is edited before you leave and the tomorrows line up in on my desk first thing in the morning." Though Hilary had never felt any real threat from Mariah, keeping her busy at the studio all night was done purposely. Hilary hadn't gotten all the details about Mariah and Devon's break up so she assumed it was him how dealt the final blow. Last thing she wanted was Mariah trying change his mind. The coast was clear for Hilary to get back what was hers.

Driving back to the GCAC, Hilary went over what her strategy was going to be. Should she play coy and act like she was just there to support the cause, or should she do what her heart was telling her and make a beeline for Devon the moment she saw him?

"The gala was tonight? Oh, it completely slipped my mind.' No, that's not believable" Hilary shook her head trying to find the right thing to say as to not come off desperate. Ever since he split from Mariah, Devon hadn't been randomly stopping by the GC Buzz set and despite living in the same building as his company, Hilary hadn't run into him in the halls. She missed him. Everything about him. From the scent of his cologne to that silly half smile he gave when trying to stop himself from flirting with her. But the thing Hilary missed most was the way he looked at her. No one had ever looked at her the way Devon did. It was so intense and so filled with love that it often gave her chills. That look faded away briefly after his car accident but it was never completely gone.

Hilary wasn't sure exactly how fast she was driving but she found herself in the GCAC parking lot in what felt like 2 minutes flat. She hopped out of the car, through the revolving doors and up the stairs so fast, there was a streak of lightening that followed her. Once in her room, she rummaged through her closet to find the perfect dress. Nothing too sexy but eye catching enough to stop Devon dead in his tracks.

"Red," Hilary said to herself. "He's always loved me in red." Hilary went to the back of her closet and pulled out a red strapless floor length gown that hugged her body in all the right places. She walked over to mirror, held the dress up to her and smiled as she pictured Devon's face when she walked into the room. The same looked that she missed so desperately. After months of anger that turned into an awkward truce, that then turned into longing from afar, Hilary was done pretending she didn't want her husband back. She was done playing the sidelines while he palled around with someone she knew wasn't worthy of him. And she was done with Jordan who was no more than a boy toy to take her mind off the daily pain in her chest.

"This ends tonight."

* * *

"Everything looks great, son."

"Yeah it does," Devon replied as he did a final walkthrough of the ballroom with Neil in tow. "We clean up pretty well too."

"Yeah well," Neil said playfully adjusting his bowtie, "I have over 20 years more experience than you at looking dapper."

"Is that so?" Devon chuckled.

"In all seriousness, it's going to be a great night filled with great music and hopefully generous donations. It was a great idea partnering the company with the rec center. This is going to bring a lot of attention to those kids."

"Here's hoping."

"You don't sound so sure."

"No it's not that. It's just… you know what that place means to me. How it saved me."

"Yes, I do."

"I just hope everyone sees the potential and hope in it that I do." Devon had long wanted to bring more attention to the center that was more like a safe haven to him before Drucilla Winters took him in. And tonight would do just that. Sure, Devon could just write them a check. He actually already had, but he wanted to do more. He wanted people to know it wasn't just a place for unwanted kids. He wanted all of Genoa City to know their worth.

"Hey, I'm going to check out everything backstage. Make sure there are no mishaps like at Nikki's concert. Relax, tonight is going to be perfect." Neil patted Devon on the back and left him in his own thoughts.

Devon wandered around a bit more before he spotted Lily coming in. "Hey" he said as he greeted her with a hug. "Didn't think you'd be able to make it."

"Of course I'm here. The avalanche that is my marriage wasn't going to stop me from being here for my brother." Lily said through a forced smile.

"I would have understood, you know?"

"Yes, I know. But I'm fine. I promise. Where's dad?"

"He's backstage. What about the twins?"

"Well Mattie already had plans but Charlie is around here somewhere. Trying to get that boy in a tux is not something I ever want to do again." Lily snickered.

Devon laughed. It was nice to see that despite everything she was going through, Lily was still able to smile.

"Hey, I see Victoria over there. I have to speak with her about an upcoming photoshoot," Lily said before making her way across the room.

Devon watched as the towns who's who began to fill in wearing their best designer attire. He mingled with everyone he could. Told them all about the work he was doing at the center and how it was being transformed into so much more than it was before. From recreational activities, to afterschool programs, tutoring, counseling, you name it. If Devon could prevent one kid from falling through the cracks of system he would.

After an hour of chop talk and performances from his streaming artists, Devon finally found a moment alone in the corner of the ballroom. He looked around at all the couples dancing together and wished he was one of them. He and Mariah hadn't been broken up for that long, but he missed being important to someone. It was clear to Devon that he wasn't in love with Mariah but he had become accustomed to the convenience of her being by his side.

He wasn't sure what it was that told him to look over at the door but when he did, he saw Hilary walking in looking as beautiful as ever. The red dress, her red lips, her hair perfectly curled at her shoulders. Devon's heart practically stopped. Hilary saw him too but pretended he wasn't her target. She walked over to the bar and made small talk with Jack all the while keeping Devon in her sights.

Devon watched as Jack excused himself from whatever conversation he was having with Hilary and over to Neil. Hilary stood there for a while pretending to be immersed in her drink. Daring him, damn near taunting him to come close to her. Devon surveyed the room first. Lily wasn't in sight and Neil was preoccupied. If Devon was going to speak to Hilary without judgmental eyes, now was the time.

"Funny, I don't remember your name being on the guest list" Devon said as he walked up behind Hilary.

Without turning to face him, Hilary shrugged her shoulders "We both know that's never stopped me before."

"You don't have a hidden camera on you, do you?"

Hilary finally turned around to those eyes she missed so much "Of course not Devon. You said no press, I'm not here as press. I just wanted to support the cause. I know how much it means to you."

Devon cocked his head to the side. "Ok" he relented. He knew when Hilary was being genuine. "You look… beautiful."

"Thank you" Hilary blushed. "You look amazing, but then again you always do" she said as she reached up and adjusted his tie.

Devon shifted his weight from one foot to another and looked around the venue as if he was scared of who would see them in such close proximity. Sure enough Lily was a few feet away giving them the side eye as she sipped her champagne. Devon took a step back and anxiously began to fidget with his hands.

Hilary followed Devon eyes and was met with the same scorn look on Lily's face. "Some things never change I see," she huffed.

"Lily's disdain for you? Yeah, that won't change anytime soon" Devon replied.

"No, not that. I'm fine with that. It's the fact that you let it control you so much that bothers me."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean," Devon asked offended.

Hilary took a deep breath and swallowed the words she wanted to say for fear of scaring him off. "Nothing. It's not important. So how are the renovations at the rec center going."

Devon saw the deflection but decided to go it. Not only did he not want to argue with Hilary, he also didn't want to end their conversation. "Good. We're almost done actually."

"That's great. Maybe once its finished, you'll give GC Buzz the exclusive tour?"

"You're always working" Devon smiled.

"Not always" Hilary replied matching his smile. There it was. That always present, always intense connection. They both felt it. The question was, who would be the first to act on it?

"Excuse me, Ms. Curtis?" a voice invaded the moment.

"Yes," Hilary answered as she turned and faced Bethany, the GCAC assistant manager.

"I'm so sorry to bother you but there's a man downstairs looking for you."

A pang of jealousy ran up Devon's spine. "Well, aren't you popular?" He said under his breath.

"I wouldn't have interrupted your evening, but he's being a bit combative. He says it's an emergency."

"What man? I'm not expecting anyone. Did he say who he was?" Hilary asked.

"No, he wouldn't." Bethany answered.

"Ok, thank you." As Bethany walked away Hilary turned back to Devon with a look of confusion on her face. "I should probably go check this out."

Devon's jealousy quickly turned to concern as something about the situation didn't feel right. "Ok, let's go."

"What?"

"I'm coming with you." Devon proclaimed.

"Devon, I'm sure it's nothing. I'll be fine."

"I'm sure you will be. I'm worried about him," Devon joked as they walked out of the ballroom and down the steps to the main dining room. Devon looked around the restaurant for this mystery man causing a scene. "I guess he left."

Hilary stepped in front on Devon to scan the area and didn't see anything either, "I guess so."

"There you are" a voice rose from behind Hilary. A voice she knew all too well. A voice that made her heart sink to her feet. No, she thought. It couldn't be. Hilary was frozen in her fear unable to face the man standing behind her. She thought maybe if she didn't move, it wouldn't make it real. Just a figment of a painful past she longed to forget. "I've been looking for you" the voice continued.

Hilary closed her eyes, clenched her fists and slowly began to turn around. With her head down, she opened her eyes and started at his feet. Working her way up she was hoping, praying that her ears and eyes were forsaking her. But they weren't. It was him. Hilary eyes began to well up with tears as she stood face to face with the devil.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm not sure exactly where my son went, but we both want to thank you for coming. Please get home safely." Neil was passing along well wishes to all his guests while simultaneous scanning the ball room for sight of Devon. It wasn't like him to just leave an event that meant so much to him.

"Great evening, Dad" Lily approached.

"Lily, hey. Have you seen your brother? He just vanished" Neil questioned.

"Not really," Lily said rolling her eyes.

"What?"

"He didn't exactly vanish. He snuck off with Hilary somewhere."

Neil filched. He wasn't sure if it was out of concern for his son or out of jealousy. Neil had been doing a great job of hiding it, but that fact of the matter was that jealousy when it came to Devon and Hilary's roller coaster relationship was always present. He saw something in them that he knew he never competed with. Never even stood a chance. The passion they had, both good and bad, was something Neil hadn't experienced in 10 years.

"Dad, did you hear me?" Lily asked interrupting Neil's thoughts.

"Huh? Yeah. I heard you. I didn't even see Hilary come in."

"Yeah well, she wasn't here long before dragging Devon off to God knows where to do God knows what. I swear, if he allows himself to be played by her again…"

"Hey, we've been over this before. Devon's life is just that. His life. He figured out she was no good for him before. He'll do it again. However, I do need to go find him. People are leaving and it's not right that one of the hosts is just gone." Neil headed towards to the door with Lily following close behind.

"Wait for me. There's no telling what she's gotten my brother into this time."

* * *

Hilary stood frozen for what felt like hours just starring at the man in front of her. One by one, all of her senses began to fail. She could no longer hear anything around her. Not Devon asking if she was ok. Not the other patrons in the dining room. Not the man in front of her calling her by the name she was given at birth. She could barely feel her feet underneath her. She was certain to topple over her at any moment. The only thing keeping her upright was Devon's hand on her lower back that she didn't realize was there. Her vision became cloudy either from the tears forming or the consciousness she was about to lose. Hilary stumbled backwards towards the bar and held on to countertop to steady herself.

"Hilary? Hilary? Are you ok?" Devon kept a hold of Hilary to keep her from collapsing while the few people left in the dining room stopped what they were doing to watch the scene unfold.

"What's going on?" Neil asked as he and Lily entered the dining room.

"Now what?" Lily asked sarcastically.

"Ann, are you alright?" The mystery man asked stepping closer to Hilary.

"Don't come near me!" Hilary yelled finally snapping out of her trance. "If you take another step closer, I swear to God…"

"Ann, please. I just.."

"That's not my name!"

"Ok.. ok…" The man held his hands up as if to surrender and slowly backed away.

"Hey, look at me" Devon said trying to calm Hilary down. "What's wrong? Who is the guy?"

"Probably someone else she screwed over" Lily snarked under her breath.

"I don't know what's going on here, but can this wait? Devon, we have guests upstairs." Neil interjected.

Devon heard Neil but was too focused on Hilary to pay him any mind. He'd never seen her like this. The always strong and confident woman he had once fallen in love with was now childlike and visibly shaking in his arms. "Hey" he whispered. "Look at me. It's ok."

Hilary finally broke her glare at the mystery man and met Devon's eyes. Those eyes. Suddenly Hilary felt the knot in her chest began to loosen a bit. She stood up straight, wiped the tears from her cheeks and smoothed her hands over her dress. "I'm fine." She proclaimed.

Devon, both relived and a little concerned about her sudden shift turned his attention to the cause of her emotional outburst. "Ok. So again, who is this man?"

Hilary's stare could have burned a whole into his head. She actually wished it would. She took a breath and uttered the words she hoped she never had to speak again. "This is Greg Turner. My father."

Neil and Lily who had been seemingly watching from the background looked over to the 50 something year old, dark skinned man dressed casually with a salt and pepper goatee. They then looked back at Hilary as if to try and place the facial features.

Devon starred at Hilary with a look of shock on his face before then turning his attention to the father she had told him so much about. None of it good. "This is your father" Devon said as more of a statement than a question. Without waiting for Hilary's reply, Devon took a few steps in his direction until he was toe to toe with Greg. He glanced back at Hilary and then out of nowhere swung back and connected his fist with the Greg's face. The punch landed squarely on his jaw with such force that he dropped to the floor.

"Devon!" Neil quickly interceded and pulled Devon back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Lily yelled.

"Stop it! Calm down!" Everyone looked on shocked as Devon tried to break free from Neil's grip so he could swing again.

Everyone except Hilary who was standing in the same spot with a look of satisfaction on her face. She smirked as Greg climbed to his feet and wiped blood away from his lip. "You son of a bitch. How are you even here right now?"

"I'd like to know that too" Devon said finally calm enough that Neil felt it was safe to let him go.

"I came to see my daughter" Greg replied.

"I didn't say WHY? I said HOW? You're supposed to be in jail."

"I was paroled early. Good behavior."

Hilary snickered. "That's rich. I think it's more likely that you escaped."

"You can call my parole officer if you don't believe me." Greg pulled a card from his pocket and began to walk closer to Hilary.

"Take one more step, and I'll drop you again" Devon said stepping in from of Hilary.

"Devon," Hilary said placing her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok. It doesn't matter why he's here. He won't be staying for long." Hilary turned her attention back to her father "How did you find me?"

"It wasn't hard. You're all over the place. Big time TV star" Greg smiled with what seemed to be pride.

"Oh, I get it. You're here for money." Hilary shook her head.

"No, I'm…"

"How much do you want?"

"Ann, I'm not here for money."

"I've already told you once, that's not my name."

"I'm sorry. Hilary. That's going to have to take some getting used to." Greg chucked.

"No it's not. Like I said, you won't be staying long." Hilary and Greg locked eyes in a stare down to see which one would blink first. Her, reading his motives. Him reading her hatred.

"Um… maybe, we should give them some privacy" Neil said after a minute of awkward silence.  
"You and Lily, go." Devon said. "Apologize to our guests for me."

"By 'we' I meant you too.'

"I'm not going anywhere." Devon hadn't taken his eyes off Greg's swollen lipped face. Married, divorced, friends, foes. It didn't matter. After everything Hilary had told Devon about her father, there was no was in hell he was leaving her alone with him.

Neil didn't push the matter any further as it was clear to him that Devon knew something the rest of them didn't. Hilary had never even mentioned her father to him during their short-lived marriage. Not so much as a name let alone that he was in jail and for what. "Come on" Neil said to Lily as they climbed the steps back to the ballroom.

"So?" Hilary sigh. "I'm only going to ask you this one more time. How much do you want?"

"I told you, I'm not here for money."

"Well, that's literally all I have to offer you. So if it's not that, you've wasted a trip."

"Is it so hard to believe that I just wanted to see my daughter?"

Hilary cocked her head to the side and looked at Greg as if he had grown two heads, then let out a laugh that startled both him and Devon "You've got to be kidding me. After everything you did to me, you expect me to believe that you're here to catch up on old times? Give me a break."

"Ann… I'm sorry, Hilary. Can't we just go somewhere and talk."

Hilary looked puzzled at the suggestion "Are you insane?"

"Ok, I think you need to leave now," Devon interrupted. "It's clear she doesn't want to see you."

"I don't think that's up to you." Greg replied stepping closer to Devon as if to be intimidating.

"Actually, I happen to own this place so it very much is up to me." Devon said matching his stance.

"He's right" Hilary chimed in. "You need to leave. Now."

Greg stepped back. "Fine," he relented. "I'll go, but I'm not leaving town until we talk. I'm staying the motel on California Ave. Room 208. And I'll be there as long as it takes." Greg gave a finally look at Devon before nodding in Hilary's direction and turning to leave.

Whether he meant it or not, Hilary took Greg's declaration as a threat. She watched as he went thru the turnstile and disappeared on the other side. As if she had been holding her breath the entire time, Hilary bent over and placed her hand over her stomach. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Hey," Devon said lifting her up to face him. "It's ok, he's gone."

"What the hell is he doing here, Devon?" She asked as the tear began to fall again.

Devon pulled Hilary into his arms hoping to melt all of her fears away. "I don't know. But I promise, I won't let him hurt you again." It was a promise Devon intended on keeping.


	3. Chapter 3

"This company looks prime for the taking. Definitely fits the Hamilton-Winters style, don't you think?" Neil asked while looking over the contracts in front of him.

"Yeah" Devon replied halfheartedly.

"I think this is definitely something that could expand our brand. Especially overseas."

"Yeah."

Neil finally looked up from his files to notice Devon staring off into the space of their shared office. "And while we're at it, I also think we should drain all of our resources and invest in a traveling circus."

"Whatever you think is best… Wait, what?" Devon came out of daze and looked at Neil with confusion.

"Hi. Thanks for joining me." Neil chuckled.

"Man, I'm sorry. My mind is a million miles away." Devon rose from the table and walked over the large window overlooking the city.

"I can see that. Want to finally tell what last night was all about?"

Devon sighed and ran his hands over his face "It's kind of a long story."

"Yeah, I got that. So that man, that's really Hilary's father?" Neil pressed.

"Yep, that was him."

"Hilary never talks about him. I almost thought he didn't exist."

"I wish he didn't." Devon said through gritted teeth. "Her father is a sore subject for her. A very sore subject. She didn't open up to me about him at first either. But when she did, it was nothing good."

"I see. So what's so terrible about the guy? Why was Hilary so scared of him?"

"Honestly Neil, that's not really my story to tell. All I can really say is, she has every right to feel the way she does."

"And you?" Neil asked now intrigued more than ever.

"What about me?"

"Clearly whatever this thing is, you feel the right to protect her from him."

Devon could see the wheels turning in Neil's mind and he knew in which direction. "I know what you're thinking and it's not that."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Devon answered sharply as he was growing tired of the line of questioning. "Listen, if you knew half the things he's put her through…"

"Ok, ok" Neil relented. "I just wanted to make sure that you know that whatever is going on with Hilary and her father, you're not required to get involved."

"I hear you, I do. But it's not that simple" Devon walked back over to his desk and collected his keys from the drawer. "Can we finish this later? I need some air."

"Of course," Neil said as he watched Devon head for the door. "Be careful."

Devon didn't bother to acknowledge Neil's subtle warning as he made his way to the elevator. He felt like the walls were starting to close in on him. He was in no mood to explain to Neil why he felt the way he did. He wasn't even sure if was ready to face it himself. He could say he would feel this way about anyone else under the same circumstances but that would be a lie. And Devon was a terrible liar. Hilary needed him. She would never admit it, but she didn't have to. Devon knew her better than she knew herself. And he knew as he climbed into his car exactly where to go.

* * *

 _Is it so hard to believe that I just wanted to see my daughter?_

Hilary shook her head as if to try and shake loose the sound of his voice from her thoughts. She didn't want him there. Physically or otherwise. She rose from her desk in the dimly lit GC Buzz studio and walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. It was one of the shows dark days but that didn't stop her from using it as a distraction. She tried to use the time alone to catch up on emails, plan out future shows and formulate new online content, but her mind still kept drifting the previous nights events. Who the hell did he think he was to just show up and upend her life like that? Greg Turner's arrival did more than just interrupt any plans Hilary had of working her way back into Devon's heart, he also practically stopped her own heart in the process.

As tough as Hilary was, if there was one thing that could shake her foundation, it was the man who spent the better part of her childhood demolishing it. She didn't talk about that part of her life with anyone before Devon. He was the only person she's ever trusted herself to be vulnerable with. And like she knew he would, he supported her and often time cried with her over some of the stories she would tell. Stories that landed Greg exactly where he has been all these years. She thought she had closed that chapter of her life. She thought confiding in someone would alleviate her anxiety. And it did for a time. Then he walked in. All the sudden she was back to being the same scared little girl shaking in the corner while she watched her mother scream in agony.

"I knew I would find you here."

Hilary spun around so quickly she almost dropped the bottle of water in her hand.  
"Devon, you startled me."

"Sorry" Devon said as he slowly walked closer. "You were pretty lost in your thoughts there. I guess you didn't hear me come in."

"No, I guess I didn't" Hilary's heart rate began to return to normal as she took a seat at table in the kitchenette. "What are you doing here?"

"You really have to ask? I wanted to check on you."

"Why?" She asked coldly without looking up to meet Devon's eyes. She didn't want him to see her as broken. She didn't want his pity.

"What do you mean, why? Last night was a lot for you."

"Nothing I can't handle" Hilary proclaimed.

Devon chuckled a bit "You can drop the wall with me Hilary. You forget, I know better."

"I'm not your problem anymore remember? How many times have you told me that?" Hilary finally looked up at Devon to see the hurt in his eyes.

Devon looked to the floor and nodded his head. "You're right. I did say that to you. And it was wrong. I was wrong. That's not how you treat someone you… Someone you care about. And no matter what we've been through, that will always be true. I will always care about you, Hilary."

Hilary sighed, got up from her chair and walked around the table. "I'm sorry, Devon. I'm upset and taking it out on you. That wasn't fair. You know how defensive I can be sometimes."

"Do I ever?" Devon smiled. "We both have said and done things that we don't mean. But this isn't about that. How are you, really?"

Hilary walked over to the coach in the employee lounge and sat down with Devon following. "Not good. I mean, last night didn't go at all how I planned it."

"What did you plan?" Devon asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hilary blushed. He was on to her. He knew exactly what she was up to the minute she walked in wearing that skin tight red dress. "I just mean that I wanted to support your event," Hilary deflected. "I didn't expect my past to come crashing down on me like that."

"I can imagine. So, did you check out his early release story?"

"I did, actually. I called his parole officer this morning and sure enough, he was released. Moreso for overcrowding than good behavior, but still."

"Well, whatever the reason, it's over and done with. I'm sure he'll accept the fact that you don't want to speak with him and skip town soon enough."

"Actually…" Hilary's voice trailed off

"No. Hilary, come on. Tell you you're not really thinking about giving that man the time of day," Devon's voice rose at the mere suggestion.

"You just don't get it" Hilary snapped before practically jumping from the couch and walking back to the kitchen.

Devon stood and followed her "What don't I get, Hilary? You told me everything right? About the abuse. The torment. The manipulation. Am I missing something? Why would you ever want to sit down in the same room with that man again?"

"Trust me, I don't! But I know him. I know how he works, Devon. He's not going to just go away if I ignore him long enough. If anything, he'll do the exact opposite. He'll just keep showing up everywhere I am until I give him whatever it is he's really after. I have to go talk to him. Then I can be done with it for good."

Devon shook his head. He knew there was no talking her out of anything she had her mind set on. "I don't like this idea. At all. But it's clear your mind is made up. So I'm going with you."

"Seriously Devon, that's not necessary."

"I don't really give a damn Hilary. I meant what I said last night. All of it. And there's no way in hell I'm leaving you in a room of some seedy motel with him alone." Devon stepped closer. Close feel the warmth coming from her body. Why did she have this control over him? Why couldn't he just walk away? And why was he asking himself questions he already knew the answers to?

Those eyes. Hilary saw something different in those eyes she loved so much. What was it? Concern? Yeah, that's all it was. Just genuine concern on his part. Nothing more. After all, he was the only other person in the world who knew everything Greg put her and her mother through. "I guess there's no use arguing with you either" Hilary smiled.

"No," Devon said with the same smile. "No use at all."

"You know, if you keep this up people might begin to think you don't actually hate me" Hilary flirted.

Devon's face grew more serious as he took another step closer "Hilary, I could never hate you. And I'm sorry for ever making you feel that way. We are better than our past. We're… friends. Right?"

Hilary smiled and nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah… friends" she said as she wrapped her arms around Devon's neck. She pulled him in so close, she was sure to smell the scent of his cologne on her body for the rest of the day. She didn't care. In his arms was where she wanted to be. Where she belonged. To her surprise, Devon didn't shy away from holding her with the same loving grip he did before their marriage met a premature end. There was no awkwardness. No hesitation. His hand caressing the small of her back. Her hands rubbing the back of his head. Not an ounce of air between their bodies. He could feel her shallow breaths on his ear. She could feel his heart rate increase. God, she loved this man. She would always love him. And she was determined to get him back at all costs. There was nothing and no one she would allow to get in her way. Especially not an ex-convict father waiting for her across town.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Hilary heard Devon's question from behind her but she didn't offer an answer. She stood frozen as she stared at the motel door in front of her. Just a simple door yet behind it laid so much hurt and discord from her past. She told herself the reason she was here was to finally put it all to rest. To move on with her life. To finally exorcise the demon that was her father from her past and begin to rebuild her future. But it was more than that. Hilary had some things to get off her chest. Devon didn't understand why she needed to do this but he was by her side anyway like he'd always been. So strong and so supportive. The complete opposite of the man on the other side of that door. Though Hilary had told Devon he didn't have to come, she was now glad he was there if for no other reason than for Greg to see what a real man looked like.

"Hilary? Are you ok?" Devon placed both hands on her shoulder to bring her out of her haze.

Hilary nodded her head and gently knocked on the door. Almost hoping that Greg wouldn't hear it. "Yes," She replied. "I will be once we get this over with."

"Quickly I hope," Devon said under his breath as he looked around the outside of the sleazy motel and shady people hanging around it. He was almost positive his car wouldn't still be there when they left.

After about a minute of rustling coming from inside, Greg finally opened the door with a look of surprise when he saw his daughter standing in front of him. "Ann.. I'm sorry. Hilary. I… I didn't… well, I wasn't expecting you." Greg's excitement caused him to stumble over her words and left his hands shanking as he held on to the door.

"Yeah well, you made it pretty clear you wouldn't leave until I came. So here I am." Hilary said annoyed. "Are you going to let us in or what?"

Greg's focus was so squarely on Hilary he hadn't even noticed Devon standing behind her. "Of course. Come in."

Devon and Hilary entered the small motel room and individually made a mental note not to sit on or touch anything. The bed spread looked like it hadn't been properly washed in weeks, the carpeted floor was a color Devon was sure it hadn't started out as and the walls possessed stains on them Hilary silently hoped wasn't what she thought they were.

"It's not much, I know" Greg said reading their thoughts. "But it's better than a 5 by 10 cell."

Hilary rolled her eyes "I'm so sure."

"Anyway, I'm glad you're here. A little surprised to see you again" Greg said towards Devon who had made his way over towards the window to check on his car.

"Judging by the look of this neighborhood, you shouldn't be" Devon replied.

"Fair enough" Greg smirked.

"Let's cut the small talk" Hilary interjected. "I'm here. What do you want? And don't give me that 'I just wanted to catch up with my daughter' crap. We both know everything you do includes an agenda."

Greg slightly nodded his head. "You always were smart."

"So you admit it?"

"Hilary, there isn't some underhanded shady reason I'm here. I got out of jail and really had nowhere else to go. So I thought I would come to see you. To make amends."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"No, I guess not. But I had to try" Greg said as he walked closer to his daughter.

"Don't" she snapped.

"Ok, ok" Greg backed up. "I'm not going to hurt you. I would never…"

"You've already hurt me, and you know it." Hilary could feel her face becoming hot. Her emotions were about to get away from her and the last thing she wanted was for this man to see how he still affected her. She looked to the floor so he couldn't see the tears begin to well up in her eyes.

"I know I wasn't a good father."

Hilary's head jolted up so quickly she thought it might come off. "Are you serious?!"

"Ok, I was a terrible father! Is that what you want to hear?!"

"Yes, because it's the truth! Tell the truth for once in your life!"

Devon eyes darted back and forth between the two who at this point where embroiled in a shouting match. He wanted so badly to intervene, but he knew Hilary didn't want him to. She told him in the car that unless Greg tried to physically harm her, to let whatever happened, happen. And he knew that screaming and yelling was better for Hilary than to keep everything bottled in any longer.

Greg took a deep breath to steady his own emotions this time. "I was a terrible father. I know that. I am not here to make excuses, but alcoholism is a disease. You know that. Your mother and I were sick…"

"Don't you dare bring my mother into this. The only reason she turned to alcohol was BECAUSE of you. You made her that way!" Hilary was no longer fighting back the tears now streaming down her face. "All your abuse. All your philandering with other women. You broke her bit by bit every single day."

"And I wish I could make it up to her…"

"But you can't because she's dead. She died alone… face down…" Hilary's voice tapered off at the image she had created in her head of her mother's last moments.

"Ok I think that's enough" Devon finally intervened. He could no longer stand there and watch Hilary put herself through this. "I think we should go."

"No. I need to do this" Hilary proclaimed still looking directly into Greg's eyes. "You said you wanted to atone but it's clear to me that you don't even know what that means. You won't even say what it is you're apologizing for. What's wrong Greg? Can't admit what a terrible person you truly are?"

Greg saw the sadness in his daughter's eyes quickly turn to rage "Was. I was a terrible person, you're right about that. But I am here to try and make up…"

"Say what you did to her," Hilary demanded.

"Ann.. "

"That's not my name."

"That's the name your mother and I gave you."

"And it's a name I have long buried. That name represented the worst time of my life. You can't be that surprised that I wanted to escape it."

"You didn't go very far."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Hilary Curtis? My mother's middle and maiden name? You claim you wanted to erase me yet you chose her name."

"Please. Don't flatter yourself. My grandmother was a God send to us after you left. She was the only reason I didn't come out of that situation completely messed up. Or worse, exactly like you. It wasn't her fault she gave birth to such a failure."

"Ok, that's enough!" Greg yelled.

"Aww, did I touch a nerve?" Hilary was giving Greg a taste of the Hilary a lot of the residents of Genoa City had grown to avoid.

"I know I have made my fair share of mistakes, but I am still you father."

"Not by choice."

"Fine. I was a terrible father. And an even worse husband. Is that what you want to hear?"

"Say what you did to us." Hilary demanded.

"Hilary, please" Devon again tried to ease the tensions.

"No. He needs to admit it."

"I hurt you both, I admit that." Greg relented.

"Hurt? Like that time you choked her because she didn't buy the brand of beer you wanted? Or what about that time you blacked her eye because she came home 5 minutes later than she said she would."

"Hilary…"

"So you don't want to talk about mom. Ok, how about me? How about that time you slapped me across the face because you stepped on one of my toys when I was six? Or how about when you made me stand in the corner all night as punishment for not wanting to go to bed when you said so. Oh I know! Let's talk about the night you sat us down at the kitchen table and held a gun on us for hours. Remember that? You told us that the only way any of us would be leaving was in body bags."

Greg dropped his head in shame. After a few seconds he looked over to Devon who he noticed had balled up fists.

"Nothing to say?" Hilary taunted. "Don't be shy. Devon has already heard these stories."

"There is no excuse for what I put you through, but…" Greg began.

"Don't you dare say it was because you were an addict! You tormented us for years! And the ONLY thing that stopped you was my teacher reporting all the bruises you sent me to school with."

"You're right. I did all of those things and more. Don't you think I know that? Don't you think its haunted me for the past 15 years? I can't change the past, Hilary."

"You still don't get it. It's not in the past! Its right here. Right now. It's in everything I do. Everything I am. What you did to us, I live with that every single day. It's the reason why I left home when I did. Why I went to college as far away as possible. Why I didn't have a relationship with my mother when she died. I took all my hatred for you and I laid it at her feet for not protecting me. I called her weak for not leaving you for herself. I blamed her for everything you did. You're the reason why I don't trust people easily. You're the reason I keep a wall around my emotions. You're the reason why I couldn't get close to man for most of early adulthood. And then I did..."

Hilary's voice began to crack, "I found him. I found a man who loved me. A man who treated me like a queen. A man who looked at me like I was the most beautiful woman in the world. I found the love of my life. And do you know that the entire time I was with him not once did I think I deserved him? Not once did I truly believe I was worthy of his love. I wasted our entire marriage waiting for him to realize that he could do better. You did that to me. You placed that doubt in my mind. My entire life has been a daily struggle to rid myself of the insecurities that you instilled. You have ruined my life in ways you can't even comprehend. I will never be whole. And there is nothing you can say or do to make amends for that."

Devon stood frozen. He wasn't sure what to do next. He wanted to take Hilary in his arms. He wanted to break Greg's jaw. He wanted to speak up, but he couldn't. He felt paralyzed. Hilary had told him everything about her childhood but he never thought about the lingering effects. She presented herself as such a strong person that he hadn't thought that the reason behind some of her actions traced back to Greg. He wanted to kick himself for not seeing it. Though the circumstances were different, Devon and Hilary's childhood had a lot of similarities. Devon had often times let his past affect him as well. Why hadn't he seen it in the woman he loved?

"Hilary… I am truly sorry. I know that doesn't mean anything to you now. But it's all I have to offer." Greg sighed.

Hilary cleared her throat, wiped her eyes and straightened her jacket. "You're right about that, Greg. I can't do anything with sorry. I've had enough sorrys to last me a lifetime, so you can keep yours" she said as she turned around and headed towards the door. She turned the nob and looked back at her father for what she hoped was the last time. "You know, I said sorry to you a lot as a kid too. 'Sorry, I didn't clean my room the way you wanted, Daddy. Sorry I didn't pick up my toys, Daddy. Sorry I'm not a good girl, Daddy.' Well, I'm done asking for your forgiveness. And I don't have any to give you."

Hilary walked out determined to leave everything that had ever haunted her there in that room. Determined to never again let her actions or emotions be a product of her past or to dictate her future. She had finally faced who she was and made up her mind to not let it define who she was going to be from this day on. She was free to not only be happy, but to realize she was worthy of it.

* * *

Hilary entered her suite at the GCAC with Devon in tow. She threw her jacket and purse on the couch and walked over to the minibar. She kicked off her shoes and poured herself a shot of bourbon. Hilary had never been a fan of brown liquor but after the day she had, she needed something to take the edge off. Devon closed the door behind them and watched her from across the room. Neither had said a word since they left Greg across town. While Hilary was emotionally drained, Devon was simply devoid of the right words to say. He kept replaying what Hilary said the entire ride home. It was the most honest he'd ever seen her. And it was forcing him to finally be honest with himself.

"You're staring," Hilary finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry," Devon replied barely above a whisper.

"I know that was a lot for you." She said taking a seat on the couch still nursing her drink.

"For me? What about you?"

"I mean, yeah it was. But strangely enough, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel… free." She smiled.

That smile. Devon joined Hilary on the couch "I'm glad."

"Thank you for coming, by the way. I'm not sure I would have had the courage to do that if you weren't there."

Devon chucked. "Something tells me you would have. I was very proud of you. It takes a lot of bravery to speak your truth.

"Thanks." Hilary saw Devon divert his eyes as if he was afraid to ask her something. And she already knew what it was. "I meant what I said. Every word."

Devon wasn't surprised that Hilary was reading his thoughts. He reached over and took the drink from her hand and set it on the coffee table. He intertwined his fingers with hers and stared into her eyes. "I know" he smiled.

"I'm sorry, Devon. Sorry that I let so many thing get in the way of us. Sorry I couldn't just trust that you loved me. I'm sorry..."

"Stop that," he interrupted. "No more apologies. What's in the past should stay in the past, ok?"

Hilary smiled and nodded. Everything that they'd been through had led them to this place. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would love this man until she drew her last breath. But she needed to know if he was open to loving her back the same way again. Her hopes sank as Devon stood up from the couch and began walking towards the door. He couldn't leave her now. "Devon, I… Please. Don't go."

Devon turned back and with a smirk on his face. "I'm not." He took his jacket off and hung it by the door. He took off his shoes and tossed them in the corner before dimming the lights. He walked back over to the couch and stood in front of the woman who still lived in his dreams knowing there was only so much more denying of that he could do. He placed his hands on each side of her face and pulled her up from the sofa. Hilary affected his every emotion. She was the holder of his every desire. She wasn't just in his heart. She was the whole damn thing.

When Devon lips met hers, it was all Hilary could do not to faint right there on the spot. He didn't taste the same. It was different. Better. Hilary wanted to drown in it. She wanted Devon's mouth to wash over every inch of her body until she lost all sense and feeling in her bones. As if to read her mind, that was exactly what Devon would do. As his tongue invaded her mouth, he could feel her body become slightly limp in his arms. He hoisted her up so that her legs were wrapped around his waist and carried her over to the bed. He laid her down gently and began tracing a path from her mouth to her arch of her breasts. Hilary's entire body felt like it was going to burst in flames any second. She had dreamt of this moment. She had dreamt of the way his body would feel on top of hers again. How his skin would feel on hers.

"Devon," She moaned. "Maybe we shouldn't. I mean, maybe we should wait…"

Devon heard her, but his rational thoughts had been taken over by lust. This woman was in his veins. There was no reasoning with himself. "I need you," he whispered.

Hilary knew she was putting up a futile battle as she needed him just as much if not more. She swung her arms around his neck and rolled him over until she was on top of him. She looked down at those eyes she loved so much to see the same love staring back at her. She lifted her shirt over her head and threw it to the side. Devon sat up and kissed her so passionately Hilary briefly forgot to breathe. With one hand tangled in her hair, he used his other hand to unfasten her bra and let it fall to the floor. God, she was perfect. Before long, all of their clothes were strewn about room. Devon looked over Hilary's naked body as if it was the first time he'd seen it.

There wasn't an inch of her that he didn't love. There wasn't a crevice he would miss that night. He outlined her body with his mouth, setting off room filling moans that was music to his ears. Hilary was quite an instrument to play, so finely tuned. Devon knew exactly where to touch her to invoke the most glorious sounds. Raw, intense, delicious noises of pleasure as he pillaged her with his tongue. Hilary grabbed his head and pulled him up until he was directly on top of her. "I love you." She said as tears rolled from her eyes and down to the pillow beneath her.

Devon leaned in and kissed the path her tears formed. "I love you too, baby. Always." He buried his face into her neck and he pushed his way into her world. Hilary's back arched in pleasure as she let out sounds that were sure to wake up everyone else on her floor. She didn't care who could hear them. They were together again. They were one. Their bodies moving in sync like never before. It was as if no time had passed. No one touched Hilary like Devon did. No one brought Devon to ecstasy like Hilary did. She deserved to be loved. She deserved to be worshipped and Devon would spend the rest of the night doing just that.


	5. Chapter 5

_You'll never be happy. You don't deserve it._

"That's not true!" Hilary screamed. She tried running from the voices only to find herself descending deeper into darkness.

 _You don't deserve love. You don't deserve family or friends. You'll be alone forever._

Hilary ran until she couldn't run anymore. Until she could no longer see he hands in front of her face. She felt around for anything she could find. A door, a light. But there was nothing. She was alone. She stood lost for a moment before she felt the floor give out beneath her causing her to freefall. She tried to yell out for help but no sound came. Her heart jumped into her throat and startled her out of her slumber. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light, she realized that she was in her room. Safe. Her heart rate came back down to normal as she gathered her bearings. "It was just a dream," she whispered to herself. A nightmare, really. She held her head in her hands for about a minute before remembering the night of bliss she and Devon shared. She excitedly looked down to her right expecting to see her love sleeping soundly. Confusion washed over her when she saw that the bed was empty. Surely her dream night wasn't just that, a dream.

"Devon?" She called out. No response. Hilary allowed every scenario to run through her mind. Last night hadn't actually happened. Last night did happen and Devon ran so he didn't have to face her. She mulled over her thoughts to the edge of madness before she heard the bathroom door open and saw Devon emerge with a bath towel pulled around his waist. She tried to hide how relived she was to see him but failed miserably.

"Good morning," Devon smiled.

"You're here," she sighed.

"Of course I am. Where else would I be?" Devon sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to kiss Hilary on the cheek.

"I just.. last night was… It was incredible. But when I woke up and didn't see you next to me I thought..."

"…that it was a dream?" Devon finished.

"Worse, actually. I thought you regretted what happened and left," Hilary answered with a halfhearted chuckle.

Devon diverted his eyes from Hilary, got back up from the bed and walked over to gather his clothes. His silence spoke volumes. The ache in Hilary's chest as she watched Devon get dressed felt like it was going to engulf her. "You do regret it," she said barely above a whisper.

Devon saw the pain on Hilary's face and shook his head. "No, I don't."

"Could have fooled me."

Devon walked back over to the bed, sat down and took Hilary's hand into his. "Hilary, I don't regret what happened last night. Being with you again is the happiest I've been since we divorced. I'm just… I don't know. I just don't think it fixes everything. There is so much that we have to figure out. And yes, maybe we should have done that before we made love, but it's still there."

"What is?"

"All the things that often go unspoken between us. We have a habit of doing that, you know?. Letting our physical yearning for each other take the place of words that need to be said."

Hilary tugged at the sheets and brought her knees up to her chest in an effort to hide herself from Devon. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so insecure and unwanted all of the sudden. "Devon, I don't understand this. You love me. I love you. Aren't those the only words that matter?"

"Come here." Devon laid back in the bed and pulled Hilary into his arms. "Love was never the problem the first time, remember? It was literally everything else."

"I made a lot of mistakes." She said resting her head on his chest.

"We both did. Both of us, Hilary. And that's something we can't just sweep away because we love each other."

"I know, it just… it feels like you're saying that even after last night, you don't want to get back together."

"That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that things can't just go back to the way they were. I think you know that."

"Yeah. I guess you're right. I just don't want to lose you, Devon. I don't think I could survive that again."

Devon placed his hand on Hilary chin and brought her head up to his. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm sorry I gave up on you so easily. Gave up on us. It won't happen again. I promise you that." Devon parted Hilary's lips with his own hoping to kiss away all of her doubts and fears. He then made his way up, kissing her nose and forehead until she was again resting her head on his chest.

"So where do we go from here?" Hilary asked.

"Maybe we should start from the beginning. Date. Get to know each other all over again. Gives me the chance to woo you again."

"Woo?" Hilary giggled. "I don't need to be wooed, Devon. And no one knows me better than you do."

"Well then what do you suggest?"

Hilary grew silent. She wanted to tell Devon she wanted to be his wife again. To be back in the home they shared. To start a family with him. She wanted to pretend that the last 10 months had never happened. But she knew saying that would likely scare him away. "You're right. Maybe we should get back to basics. Fall in love all over again."

"Make new memories," he smiled.

"Yes, but first…" Hilary inched up on to Devon's body and playfully tugged at his bottom lip with her teeth. "Round 2?"

"Mmm." Devon tried to formulate words as Hilary dropped the sheet from her body, straddled his lap and began kissing a path from his lips to his chest. "Technically, it would be round 3."

"Who's counting?" She replied as she worked her past his chest and to his navel before undoing the belt buckle on his jeans. How could they honestly expect to start from scratch when neither could suppress the craving they had for each other? Devon was the only man whose mere presence made her flesh hot. He could simply touch Hilary's hand and her entire body would react. No man had ever and would ever affect her the way Devon did.

Devon was again out of his shirt and pants in record time. He couldn't deny Hilary if he tried. And he rarely tried very hard. Hilary was insatiable and Devon was always up to the task. Unfortunately, Devon's eagerness to commence round 3 was interrupted by the buzzing sound of his phone on the night stand. He tried to roll over but Hilary pulled him back.

"Ignore it" she purred.

Another buzz. "Babe, I can't. It might be important."

Hilary huffed and loosened her grip to allow Devon to check his phone.

"Damn." Devon mumbled.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just some work stuff. Neil is on his way in. I have to get upstairs." Devon stood up and began dressing again.

"Do you have to?" Hilary asked seductively tossing the sheet from her naked body.

God she was beautiful. A work of art. There was nowhere else in the world Devon would rather be than with her. "As much as a don't want to, I have to. We're in the middle of a pretty big acquisition and I kind of skipped out on Neil yesterday and haven't checked in since."

"Because of me."

"Not entirely. My mind wasn't on work at all yesterday." He said looking for his shoes.

Hilary got up from the bed and walked across the room to put on her robe pouting the whole way.

"You're upset." Devon said walking up behind her and wrapping his warms around her waist. "You know I don't want to go."

"Yeah, I know. It's not that."

"What is it?"

Hilary turned around still tightly in Devon arms. "It's Neil."

"Neil?" Devon said puzzled.

"Neil. And Lily. And Jill. And Cane. And everyone. Devon, no one in your life is going to take the news of us being back together well."

Devon nodded his head slightly. She was right. He'd become so caught up in Hilary again that he hadn't stopped to think about the ripple effects their reunion would cause. "Who cares?" He smirked.

Hilary wiggled free from Devon's arms and walked over to the couch and crossed her arms. "You do. Their opinions mean a lot to you."

Devon was picking up on the not so subtle suggestion Hilary was making. More times than not, Devon was guilty of letting other people's opinions of Hilary affect his own. "You're right."

"Are you just saying that to shut me up?"

"No," Devon laughed. "You are right, We've always had entirely too many people in our relationship. A lot of that was my fault. All of it, actually."

"But how do we change it?"

Devon placed his finger on his chin and looked up to the ceiling as if contemplating a plan. "Ahh, I got it," He said walking closer to her. He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her neck. "We could just not tell them."

Hilary was distracted briefly by the warmth of Devon's lips on her skin before realizing what he was really saying. "Are you suggesting we go back to hiding our relationship?" She asked almost offended.

"Ok, I know how that sounds but that's not what I mean. I don't want to hide our relationship from my family. At least not forever. I just think that the less people know, the more time that will give us to reconnect. It's not about hiding you from them. I'm not ashamed to love you, Hilary. I'm sorry if you thought that the first time."

"I never thought you were ashamed. I just think the more people told you how horrible I was, the more you listened."

Hilary's words hit Devon harder than he expected. He hadn't seen it at the time, but after months and month of people in his ear telling him to leave Hilary, it did finally get to him. He felt ashamed. His decision to divorce Hilary was his and his alone, but he wondered how differently things might have played out if he had at least one supportive voice in his life. "You're right. I have to be better than that. And I will."

"And I know I have to be better too. And I will. Because after last night, I refuse to mess this up again. And you're right. The less people know right now, the better."

"Good. We'll figure out all the details later, but I really need to get to the office before Neil sends out a search party." Devon gave a quick kiss to Hilary's lips and made his way to the door.

"Devon, wait."

"What?" He asked.

"You don't think Neil is going to notice you're in the same clothes as yesterday?"

Devon looked down at his outfit and chuckled. "You always were better at this sneaking around thing than I was."

"Very funny," Hilary said playfully rolling her eyes.

"I have some clothes upstairs. I just have to change before Neil gets here." Devon grabbed his jacket and opened the door to leave.

"Devon. I love you." Hilary smiled.

That smile. Devon dreamt about it often. He was glad it was back in his reality. "I love you."

Devon closed the door behind him and quickly rushed to the elevator. Once in the HWG office, he found the dry cleaning he'd left there the week before and quickly changed. Hilary was right about the one thing, even if Neil didn't notice he was wearing the same clothes from the day before, there would be no denying the scent of Hilary's fragrance on them. He threw the clothes into a garment bag and hid it underneath his desk. He opened his laptop and began going through his emails just as he heard the elevator doors open and close.

"There you are." Neil said as he walked over to his desk. "I've been calling and texting you all morning."

"Sorry. My phone was on silent. I only just got you message."

"How long have you been here?"

Devon smiled to himself remembering the night before. "Awhile."

"So how did everything go yesterday with Hilary?" Neil asked.

"Huh?' Devon panicked for a second. Was he on to them already?

"I assumed you left yesterday to talk to her. Am I wrong?"

"Oh. Um, no. You're not wrong. I did see her. She decided to go talk to her father and I didn't want her to do that alone."

Neil sat down at his desk across from Devon and tried to read his demeanor. He was visibly nervous. "And that went ok?"

Devon started randomly shuffling papers around and pretending to look for a file. "Yeah. I mean, as well as can be expected. Their relationship is contentious to say the least."

"Uh huh. Anything else happen?" Neil pressed.

"No. Not really. I mean, she said what she had to say. I don't know how much of it he actually heard. But hopefully he's on his way out of town." Devon knew what Neil was really asking but he was hopeful he could steer him in another direction. Just like that, they were back where they started. Lying to Neil. The circumstances where completely different this time. Devon didn't feel any guilt. He didn't owe Neil details of his love life no matter who those details involved. Devon already knew what self-serving advice Neil would offer and he was in no mood to hear it. His mind was made up. Hilary would be in life for the foreseeable future. And his days of letting other people talk him out of that were over.

* * *

"Good morrrning!" Hilary sang walking over to a table in the GCAC dining room.

"Good morning to you too," Phyllis smiled greeting her friend with a hug. "Aren't we chipper this morning?"

"Well, it's a gorgeous day. What's not to love?" Hilary sat down at the table grinning from ear to ear. "Thanks for the brunch invite. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

Phyllis sat back in her chair and looked Hilary up and down suspiciously. "Ok, what is this? What's going on here?"

"I don't know what you mean," Hilary grinned.

"Granted, we haven't been friends all that long, but I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before. You're practically glowing."

"Oh. Must be the new highlighters I'm using."

"As someone whose been in the makeup business before, there's only so much it can do. No. That's from within. Spill it!"

Hilary took a sip of water and opened her menu. "Have you ordered yet?" She asked ignoring the inquisition.

"Hilary Curtis, with everything going on in my life at the moment, I could really use some good news, or gossip, or something!"

"Ok ok ok." She laughed. "But you have to promise not to tell a soul."

Phyllis made a crossing motion over her heart and leaned into the table. "Promise. Out with it."

"So, I'm guessing you heard about my father randomly showing up a couple days ago, right?"

"Small town," Phyllis nodded. "Couldn't get my Latte yesterday without hearing about Devon sucker punching the guy."

"Yeah well, after that I went to go talk to him. Get some stuff off my chest, you know? Devon came with me. I didn't ask him to. But he insisted that he didn't want me to go through that alone.

"Understandable. Devon is one of the few good guys left."

"Tell me about it. Well anyway, afterwards he drove me home. And he walked me to my room. We talked for a bit. And…" Hilary's voice trailed off to draw out Phyllis' obvious anticipation.

"And?!"

"One thing led to another, like it normally does with us. And…"

"Shut up! Are you serious?!"

"Yes!" Hilary beamed.

"Oh my God, that's great! So, you two are back together?"

"Yes. Well, kind of."

"Ok, you lost me again."

"I mean, we are. But we've decided to keep it quiet for a while."

"Ooh, like a secret love affair. Well if anyone knows about those, it would be me. And you too, actually." Phyllis teased.

"Right? But it's different this time, you know. We aren't lying or cheating. We're just taking this time to reconnect without everyone reigning down on us about how wrong it is. But I had to tell someone. I felt like I was going to burst."

"Well your secret is safe with me. I'm happy for you. I know how much you love Devon. And how much you missed him."

"I did miss him. Not sure I realized how much until last night."

Hilary and Phyllis spent the next hour catching up on everything in each other's lives over omelettes and mimosas. Phyllis had quickly become a confidant for Hilary. Her first real girlfriend since she came to Genoa City. She did at times find it a little uncomfortable being friends with both Phyllis and Jack after their divorce, but neither had put her in an awkward position about it and she needed them both for different reasons.

Hilary sat the table awhile after Phyllis left for Jabot and replayed her night with Devon in her head. She wasn't sure how this sneaking around thing was going to work. She already missed him so much and knew the moment she saw him again it was going to be a struggle not to run into his arms. Hilary stood up from the table and gathered her purse. She felt around inside for her phone so she could text Mariah about that days staff meeting. Part of her couldn't wait to throw it in her face that she and Devon were back together. Secret or not, Hilary couldn't pass up an opportunity like that. "No," Hilary laughed to herself. "Can't do that."

Hilary turned to make her way to the exit before stopping dead in her tracks. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I know I'm the last person you want to see right now." Greg said approaching Hilary cautiously.

"You got that right," she said walking around him.

"Hilary there's something else we need to talk about," he said in close pursuit.

Hilary kept her stride and made a beeline towards the exit. "I don't think so. I said everything I needed to say to you yesterday."

"Slow down. Listen to me for a second. This isn't about that. There's something else I need to talk to you about."

"What could you possibly have to say to me that I would want to hear?"

"It's about your sister."

The word sister made Hilary halt right before going through the turnstile. The GCAC was bustling around this time of day. Surely, she must have heard him wrong. Hilary slowly turned around and looked her father in his eyes. "What did you just say?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Come here!" Hilary grabbed Greg by the arm and pulled him out of earshot of the other patrons entering and exiting the GCAC. "Repeat what you just said."

"We need to talk about your sister. I need your helping finding her."

Hilary shook her head in disbelief. "What the hell are you talking about? What sister?"

"Maybe we can go someone private to talk about this." Greg suggested looking around the busy dining room.

"If you expect me to help you do anything, you better start talking. Now."

Greg took a deep breath and wiped his brow with his hand. "Her name is Savannah. She was about 5 years old when I went in. Her mother moved around a lot after that to find work. I don't know where they ended up or how to find her."

"You have got to be kidding me," Hilary said rolling her eyes. "What am I saying? You cheated on mom all the time. Of course you have other kids. How many more are out there?"

"She the only one," Greg replied.

"That you know of."

"Can you help me now and insult me later?"

"What exactly do you think I can do?"

"You are the host of a nationally syndicated show. I was hoping that…"

"Ahh," Hilary chuckled. "So that's it. That's the real reason you're here. I knew you wanted something. That whole redemption tour you were trying to sell never did feel right."

"I know you hate me, and I don't blame you for that. But I meant everything I said to you. If you want to punish me for the rest of my life, that's fine."

"Gee, thanks for your permission." Hilary huffed. She placed her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. Her head was spinning with everything that was being dropped at her feet. "Ok. So, let's say I believe anything you're saying and decide to help you. What exactly am I supposed to do? Go on my show and air out my most personal family business in hopes of finding a daughter that, let's be perfectly honest, has probably been better off not having you as a father?"

"How often do you use outside resources to verify your stories? You have to know someone who can help. A private investigator or something. Aren't you even the least bit interested in the fact that you have a little sister out there somewhere?"

Hilary grew quiet and contemplated Greg's question. If this sister of hers was 5 years old when we went to jail, she would be around 16 or 17 now. Hilary was so used to being alone in the world that the idea of a sibling filled her with mixed emotions. On one hand, she was curious. What kind of person was she? Was she smart? Ambitious? Was she like her? How much different would her life had turned out if she had another person to look out for? To protect. Then on the other hand, Greg was Savannah's father too. And she wouldn't wish that on anyone.

"You know what, no," Hilary shook her head. "I'm not doing this with you right now. I have to get to the studio."

"Hilary please." Greg reached out and took Hilary by the forearm with more force than he intended.

"Let go of me!" Hilary demanded in a loud whisper as to not cause a scene.

Greg kept a firm grip on Hilary's arms as he continued his plea. "Do you think I would be here asking you for anything if it wasn't important. I know I screwed up with you, but I still have another child out there that I can still get it right with."

"I said let go!"

"HEY!"

Hilary looked towards the stairs and saw Devon rushing down with Neil close behind him.

"Get the hell off her!" He yelled as he pushed him into the wall and took grip of his shirt collar. "You don't listen, I see."

"Devon, stop!" Hilary said trying to pry Devon away from Greg.

"Son, that's enough." Neil pulled Devon to the side. "I get that you own this place, but you can't keep causing a scene."

Greg straightened out his shirt and smirked. "I would listen to him. I would hate to have to sue you for assault."

"Shut up," Hilary snapped. "You're not going to do a damn thing. You need my help, remember?"

"Help with what?" Devon looked towards Hilary confused.

"It's not your concern," Greg replied.

"Anything that involves Hilary IS my concern."

Hilary glanced at Neil and could see his antennas go up. So much for hiding their relationship. "Come here, please." Hilary took Devon's hand and walked him over to the bar. "What are you doing?"

"Me? What are you doing? What the hell did I walk in on?"

"It's kind of a long story," Hilary sighed.

"I have time." Devon said sternly.

Hilary read the look in Devon's eyes. There was anger, concern, confusion. But most of all, there was love. He really did love her and wanted to protect her from the world. If they hadn't had an audience, she would have rewarded his heroics with a kiss. "Baby, its ok. He didn't hurt me."

"That's not what it looked like to me."

"He's just… I don't know, desperate I guess."

"For what, exactly?"

"Well, according to him I have a little sister I didn't know about. He wants my help finding her."

Devon looked over to Greg, then back to Hilary. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah, that was my reaction too."

"So, you think he's telling the truth?"

"I mean, I guess. I don't really think he has any reason to lie. At least not about that. He doesn't gain anything from it."

"Are we talking about the same guy?" Devon asked with a raised eyebrow

"Devon, I don't know, ok? This is all new to me too. I don't know what to think or what to do or where to start..."

Devon could see the frustration begin to build up in Hilary and reached out to hold her hand. "Hey, I'm sorry. You're right. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out."

"You're terrible at this, you know?"

"At what?"

"Discretion," Hilary smiled.

Devon turned back in Greg's direction to see Neil standing next to him staring a hole into them. "I guess not. But that's not important right now. Tell me more about this sister."

"According to Greg, she's about 16. Her name is Savannah. He hasn't seen her since he went to jail and not sure where her mother moved her to. That's all he's told me so far."

"So why was he grabbing you?"

"Because I told him I wouldn't help him."

"Really?" Devon asked.

"Yes, really. Why do you sound surprised?"

"It's just that… Hilary, you may be able to mask it with everyone else, but I know that not having any family around has bothered you. I would think the idea of finding your sister would entice you a little. Even if it meant dealing with Greg in the process."

"You're right. It did. But then I thought about what a horrible father he was to me. Seems like the best thing I could do for Savannah is to keep him the hell away from her."

"You have a point," Devon agreed. "But there is another option."

"What's that?"

"You could look for her without him."

Hilary contemplated Devon's suggestion for a moment. "I guess I could, but I would need to get more info out of him first."

"And once you get the information you need, tell him you hit a dead end and then continue on without him."

Hilary stepped back and looked Devon up and down suspiciously.

"What?" He asked.

"When did you become such a schemer?"

"I guess you rubbed off on me."

"Very funny," Hilary laughed.

"So, it's a plan?" He asked.

Hilary nodded her in agreement. He was right. She couldn't let her disdain for Greg stop her from finding a piece of her family. She had known about Savannah's existence all of 20 minutes and already felt a connection towards her. Hilary pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to Mariah to proceed with the meeting without her and that she would be in before the taping. "Ok. Here it goes." She said as she waved Greg over.

Devon met Neil halfway as he was beginning to walk over with Greg. "Hey Neil, I'll be upstairs in a little bit. There's just something we need to talk with Greg about."

"We?" Neil questioned. "When did you two become a _we_ again?"

"It's not like that." Devon lied.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Devon, I know I've told you this before, but I feel it bears repeating. Hilary's issues with her father aren't yours. You don't have to hold her hand through this."

"If not me, then who? She doesn't have anyone else, Neil. The few friends she does have don't know the history of her childhood. They don't know what he put her through."

"I hear you. I just don't want you biting off more than you can chew. Can you blame me for trying to look out for you?"

"No, but that's not what you're doing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neil asked offended.

"Never mind." Devon could see through Neil's supposed concern but was in no mood to call him out on it. It was becoming clear to him that Neil and Lily had entirely too much influence on his life and the only way they would change was if he refused to allow it. "I am going to be there for Hilary as long as she needs me. And she needs me now. I will be up in time for our conference call later."

Devon retuned to Hilary's side without allowing Neil to say another word. "Let's sit down," He said walking over to a table.

Greg slowly sat across from Devon and Hilary. "Why does he have to be involved?" He asked glaring at Devon.

"Because if he's not than neither am I," Hilary replied.

"Excuse me if I'm not thrilled to be working with a man who's put his hands on me twice now."

"And I have no problem doing it again if need be." Devon said matching Greg's glare.

"Ok, ok. That's enough," Hilary interjected. "If we're going to do this, we need more information."

"What do you want to know?" Greg asked cautiously.

"Everything."

Greg grew silent for a moment as if reliving that time of his life. "Her name was Brenda Larson. I met her at some bar. She was nice. Pretty. Fun to be around. Nothing happened at first. We were just friends. Drinking buddies."

"No surprise there," Hilary said under her breath.

"We remained friends for years. And then one day, we were more. She got pregnant and decided to keep the baby. I was there for them as much as I could be in the beginning."

"So, were some of those disappearing acts you pulled because you were playing house elsewhere?"

"Yes," Greg said lowering his head. "Until I got arrested."

"So, to find Savannah we have to find Brenda first," Devon said.

"Exactly," Hilary agreed. "You have to tell us more about her. Where was she from? What was her profession? Did she have family that she might have gone to stay with?"

"All I know is that she's originally from Georgia. She didn't talk much about it and I didn't press. When I met here, she was cleaning office buildings. After I went to jail I was able to speak to her once and said she was fired because she didn't have any child care and had to move to find work."

"Where in Georgia?" Devon asked.

"Macon, if I remember correctly."

"I guess we start there," Hilary said thumbing through her phone. "There can't be too many Brenda Lawsons in a city as small as Macon Georgia. Even if she isn't there, we might be able to find a family member or something."

"Who are you texting?" Greg inquired.

"You said it yourself. I have people on the payroll who do a little digging for me."

"I knew you would help me," He smiled.

"Please. Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm just relaying the information. If we find out something, we'll let you know."

"Regardless," Greg said standing up from the table. "I appreciate it. I'll be in touch."

Devon and Hilary watched as Greg left. "So, what do you think?" Devon asked.

"I think he's full of it, but what else is new?"

"So it wasn't just me. You could tell there was more that he wasn't telling us?"

"Oh, he's obviously hiding something," Hilary replied. "We just have to find out what it is."


	7. Chapter 7

"This wasn't the edit I approved," Hilary said looking over the footage of a pre-taped interview on her laptop at the GC Buzz anchor desk. "Who authorized this change?"

"Well… um…" A newly hired production assistant whose name Hilary hadn't even learned yet began fumbling over his words as it was clear he was about to become the sacrificial lamb to someone else's mistake. "I... I was told..."

"By whom?"

"Um, Mariah. Ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am," Hilary scoffed before rising from the desk and walking over to Mariah in the studios kitchen. "Care to explain the edit on that Newman interview?"

"Well, you skipped out on the production meeting yesterday, so I did what you told me to do. I filled in." Mariah replied.

"That's not what I asked you to do. I asked you to conduct the meeting and update the agenda. All last minute edits have to be cleared by me. Especially edits on interviews that I conducted."

Mariah shrugged, walked around Hilary and back to the anchor desk. "I did what I thought was best. Didn't think you would have a problem with it."

"No, you didn't think I would catch it. There's a difference."

"God, Hilary, what's the big deal? It's not that drastically different from your first edit."

"That's not the point," Hilary replied with a raised voice. "The point is you go out of your way to undermine me when you have no authority to do so."

"I am the EP and your cohost. I made a judgement call."

Hilary folded her arms across her chest in an effort to calm her growing rage. "You know, every day I wonder to myself why I keep you around."

"Maybe because your divorce decree says you can't fire me?" Mariah smirked.

"True. It does say that," Hilary started before her cell phone in her back pocket started ringing. "But it doesn't say anything about demoting your ass down to the janitorial staff. Change it back or you'll be scrubbing toilets by the end of the day."

Hilary walked back over to the kitchen before Mariah could offer a rebuttal and grabbed her phone from her pocket. The caller ID read the name of the private investigator she had hired to find her sister. Hilary took a deep breath to steady her nerves. This was the call she'd been waiting for. "Hey, Justin. What do you have for me?"

* * *

"So, will the outside renovations be completed before the weather changes? I really don't want to have to push this to Spring." Devon sat at a table on the patio of Crimson Lights with a phone to his ear while thumbing through progress pictures on his tablet. "Awesome. That's great. I'll be in touch. Thank you."

"Good news?" Lily smiled as she joined her brother with a latte in hand.

"Very good news. The grand reopening of the rec center is still on schedule." Devon replied with pride.

"That's great to hear."

"I wanted your opinion on someone though."

"Really, what?"

"The name," Devon replied taking a sip of his coffee.

"Oh. I assumed it would be the Hamilton Winters Center."

"Yeah, that was the initial idea, but I was thinking about it and I'm not entirely sure I need my name in big letters. Seems odd to give back to something that meant so much to me and then put my name up there for recognition."

"That's noble, but you know no one would see it like that other than you, right?' Lily chuckled at her brother's modesty.

"I would. And besides, I think I have a better name. A name more fitting. That meant more to me."

"Like what?"

"I was thinking The Barber Center."

Lily froze for a moment before nodding in agreement. "She would love that."

Devon smiled as he thought back to the first time he met the woman who would fight to become this mother. "I hope so."

"Ok, ok," Lily said waving away the emotion that was beginning to well up at the thought of their mother. "So, what else is going on with you?"

"Um," Devon took another sip of his coffee and shrugged. "Nothing much."

"Really? That's not what dad said."

"What did he say, exactly?"

"He said you've gotten yourself caught up in another one of Hilary's melodramas."

"Lily, let's not. We're having a nice time together. Let's not ruin it."

"Fine. I just think you would be foolish to fall for her scheme's again." Lily replied.

Devon fell silent and looked down at his black coffee. "Can I ask you something," he said raising his eyes to meet hers.

"Sure."

"When everything came out about Cane and Juliet, did I tell you to divorce him?"

"No."

"And what about years ago? The first time Cane broke your heart. Did I tell you to divorce him them?"

Lily saw where Devon was going and shook her head. "No, you didn't. But…"

"The most I've done is tell you to do what you felt was best for you and your family. When you told me you had filed for divorce, I supported you. If you had told me you were going to work it out, I still would have supported you. Why is it so difficult for you to do the same for me?"

"Devon, it's not that simple."

"You despise her. I know that, Lily. All of Wisconsin knows that. No one has ever asked you to like her. I just don't understand why you can't trust me to make my own decisions in my life."

"You're my brother. I love you. I just want what's best for you."

"I love you too," Devon said reaching out and holding his sisters hand. "I just want you to let me find out what that is for myself. Can you do that?"

"I guess," Lily replied playfully rolling her eyes. "But I am concerned about that father of hers. He doesn't seem like a good person."

"He's not. At all."

"What did he do?"

"To Hilary or to land himself in jail?"

"They aren't one in the same?" Lily asked, puzzled.

"Not really," Devon replied. "He was abusive to them. Both Hilary and her mother. It was reported to the authorities when Hilary was a kid, but Rose refused to press charges. She just wanted to get out of there alive."

"My God…"

"Yeah. A few years after they left, he got arrested for armed robbery."

"Wow," Lily whispered. "And now he's back for what?"

Devon looked at his phone and saw a missed text from Hilary asking him to meet her at the GCAC. "Um... that, I'm not sure. He says he wants to make amends or something," Devon replied deciding that Lily only needed to know half the story.

"Well, no matter how I feel about Hilary, I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"Aww. Look at that. You two for just a few steps away from becoming besties!" Devon joked.

Lily balled her napkin up and threw it across the table. "Don't hold your breath!"

* * *

"Good, you're here. I.."

Devon barely let Hilary get the door up and the words out of her mouth before he rushed in to her room and pulled her into a kiss that damn near buckled her knees. With one hand gripping her waist, he used the other to close the door behind him before spinning her around and pinning her against it.

"Well, damn," Hilary said when he finally let her up for air. "What was that for?"

"I just missed you all day,' Devon replied kissing a path from her collarbone up to her ear.

"Mm... I missed you too. And as good as that feels, we have to talk." Hilary gave Devon a quick peck on the lips and led him over to the sofa. "I heard back from the PI today."

"Wow, that was fast," Devon said taking a seat next to her.

"I pay him to be."

"So, what did he find out?"

"He found a few Brenda Larson's in or around Macon, but there was one in a smaller town just outside the city called West Oak that fits the description," Hilary grabbed a file off the coffee table that her PI had emailed to her. "He sent over some of the records he found."

"Is she still there?" Devon asked going through the files.

"In Macon? No, she's not. Remember how we felt like there was something Greg, wasn't tell us?"

"Yeah."

"Turn to the back."

Devon read over the police report on the last page. "She turned him in?"

"Yep. After the robbery, he apparently went to her and tried to get her and Savannah to go on the run with them. I guess he scared her so much, she instead decided to turn him in."

"Wow. So that whole story about her moving for work…" Devon began.

"Half true. She wasn't fired. She quit and went back to Georgia. Atlanta to be specific. And I don't think it was for better job opportunities either."

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking this has less to do with Savannah and more to do with her mother. He's looking for her for some reason and figured the fastest way to find her was through their kid."

"Damn. I don't even know what to say about all this. What are we supposed to do with this?"

"Verify," Hilary answered before walking over to her closet and wheeling out her suitcase.

Devon stood up and shook his head. "Oh, I don't think so."

"Devon…"

"Hilary, I know you like to think of yourself as an investigative reporter now, but this is ridiculous."

"What is?" Hilary asked placing her hands on he hips.

"You walking into a situation blindly."

"Did you not just read everything I gave you?"

"Yes, I did. What you have is the who, the where and the how. What you don't know is the why. Something about this just doesn't feel right."

"Devon, think about this for a minute. If Brenda turned on him, the likely reason he's looking for her is for revenge."

"Exactly," Devon replied. "Even more reason NOT to lead him to their doorstep."

"You're right. I'm not going to do that. I called him earlier today and said the PI hadn't found anything yet and to give it more time. While he's here waiting, I'm going to find them to warn them. To make sure Savannah is safe."

Devon walked over to Hilary and again pulled her into his arms. "You care about her already, huh?"

"I do, Devon. She's part of me. I know what it's like to grow up in an unstable home. I have to find her."

"Ok," Devon replied placing a kiss on her forehead. "Let me call my pilot."

"What about Neil? Where are you going to tell him you're going?"

"I'll tell him I'm going to Atlanta. I'll just say I'm going to scout a new artist or something. I won't mention you're coming with me."

"You sure you want to do this?" Hilary asked.

"Go on an adventure with you?" Devon smiled. "Absolutely."


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure this is the right address?"

Hilary looked down at her phone, then back to the run down house that appeared to be abandoned then back to Devon. "Yeah. I mean, this is the address Justin sent me."

"I'm not sure this was a good idea," Devon said surveying the area. The two wasted no time in going straight from the airport to the address provided. Devon wanted to take some time to formulate a strategy but as usual Hilary wanted to jump in feet first and improvise their landing.

"You know, it amazes me how a city kid can be so apprehensive about sketchy neighborhoods," Hilary joked.

"Yeah well, I had a lot less to lose back then," Devon replied grabbing Hilary's hand.

"Come on!" Hilary began pulling Devon across the street and up the front steps of the home. When they reached the porch, they could tell by the boots and tools strew about that the house was in fact being lived in.

"What exactly are we going to say?" Devon asked.

"Just follow my lead."

"Really? Hilary, this isn't some buddy comedy. We should have a pl…"

"Devon, relax." Hilary huffed before knocking on the door. "I got this."

Before Devon could offer a rebuttal, the door swung open revealing a black woman who looked to be in her 50's wearing a house coat, slippers and a cigarette hanging from her lips. "What you want?"

Hilary and Devon looked at each other not being able to form words. Hilary had an entire dialogue in her head on the drive from the airport and now it was gone.

"Um," Devon said seeing that Hilary was frozen. "We're sorry to bother you ma'am. We were looking for someone by the name of Savannah."

"You cops?" She asked.

"No. We're not cops." Devon smiled trying to charm her defenses down.

"You look like cops."

"I can assure you, we are not cops."

"So then what do you want with Savvy? You a social worker from her school? Let me find out her ass been skipping again."

Hilary perked up when she realized that the woman in front of them knew Savannah and that they were in the right place. "Are you Brenda?"

The mention of Brenda's name made the woman visibly more defensive then she already was. She shifted her weight from one foot to another, threw her cigarette out towards the lawn and began reaching for the door. "Whatever you selling, I ain't buying. Have a good day."

"Wait, please!" Hilary said stopping the door from being slammed in their faces. "We're not with the police. We're not with social services or anything like that. My name is Hilary Curtis. I'm here because Savannah is my sister. I just wanted to meet her. Please."

The woman opened the door again, looked Hilary up and down and stepped to the side. "Come in."

Devon, surprised by how quickly the woman relented, followed behind Hilary as they walked towards the back of the house. The inside wasn't as unkempt as the exterior but it was clear the occupants of the home weren't living in the best of conditions. Once in the kitchen, they took a seat at the table and watched the woman pour herself a cup of coffee. "No, thanks," he said as she motioned the coffee pot in their direction.

"So, You're Brenda?" Hilary asked.

"No. I'm Hattie. Brenda's my sister," she replied taking a seat across from them at the kitchen table. "How'd you find me?"

"Well, we weren't looking for you per se. I was given this address as a starting point by a private investigator."

"A PI huh? Well I hope you give him a bonus or something."

"So, Savannah does live here?" Devon asked.

"I guess you could say that."

"Is she here now?" Hilary's eyes lit up.

"No. I can't keep track of that child. She's in and out. The girl hit 16 and all the sudden she thinks she can do what the hell she wants."

"Where is Brenda?" Devon asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine. She dropped Savvy off to live with me when she was 10. Have barely heard from her since. Last letter we got from her was from Chicago, but that was a year ago."

"That's odd," Hilary whispered.

"Not if you knew Brenda. That's right in her wheel house. She's never been the most reliable person in the world," Hattie replied rolling her eyes.

"You let us in pretty quickly when Hilary said she was Savannah's sister. I'm guessing you already knew about her," Devon inquired.

"Yeah. I knew that good for nothing Greg Turner had another family out there. Brenda told me all about it when she got pregnant with Savannah. I guess I should apologize for my sister's part in breaking up you family."

"No need," Hilary said waving her hand. "She wasn't the cause of my families demise. That was all him."

"So you really are just here to meet her, huh?"

"Yes. Well, for the most part. I didn't even know she existed until recently. When Greg came and told me about her, I just…"

"Wait!" Hattie said practically jumping out of her seat. "Greg.. He… he's out of jail?"

"Yes. He was released a few weeks ago," Hilary answered.

Hattie suddenly rose from her seat and started pacing the kitchen. "Does he know you're here?"

"No, he doesn't." Devon said. "Hey, its ok. We didn't tell him anything about this. We just wanted to make sure Savannah and Brenda were ok."

"I know more than anyone that Greg isn't a boy scout," Hilary said standing up and walking towards Hattie. "But this isn't exactly the reaction I was expecting."

"The private investigator gave us the police report from when Greg was arrested. It said that Brenda turned him in. Is that why you seem so scared right now?" Devon asked.

"Turned in? That's what it said?" Hattie took a deep breath and sat back down at the table with Hilary following suit. "That's not exactly how it went down."

"Can you explain what happened?" Hilary asked.

Hattie fiddled with her hands nervously. "Brenda didn't just turn Greg in. She set him up."

Hilary and Devon looked at each other in disbelief as Hattie continued.

"After you and your mother left Greg, he became a thorn in Brenda's side. He moved in with her without really being invited. Slept all day, was out all night. Never had a real job. Didn't even pay much attention to Savvy. He wore out his welcome with Brenda real quick."

"Was he abusive to them too?" Hilary asked.

"Not really. I mean, he never hit them or anything. At least not that Brenda told me. She just said he was pretty controlling over her. Wanted to know where she was at all times. Got jealous easily. After about a year, she couldn't take it anymore. So she had one of the local stick up kids she knew hold up a liquor store on their block."

"Wait, what?" Devon said shocked.

"Yeah. No one was hurt and the kid only got like $200. But he shot a hole into the wall of the place for the police to find, then gave the gun and mask to Brenda who planted in their apartment and tipped off the police."

Hilary sat stunned at Hattie's revelation. It had never even crossed her mind that Greg wasn't guilty. He was guilty of so many other things that Hilary just assumed that armed robbery was right up his alley. "So, the story she gave police about being scared of him and not wanting to go on the run…"

"Half true. Brenda was always scared of him. So she did what she needed to do to get rid of him. To protect her daughter."

"If that's the case, then why did she just dump Savannah off on you and leave?" Devon asked.

"Brenda got notice that Greg's lawyers petitioned for a new trial around that time. Because she knew he was innocent, she assumed his lawyers did too and would be able to prove it. So she fled before they could depose her. She figured Savvy would be safer with me since Greg didn't know much about me or where I lived. Now why she didn't come back after his request was denied, I don't fully know."

Hilary sat silently for a moment to take in everything she just heard. "I… I don't even know what to say."

"Me either," Devon added.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Hilary asked.

"That's all I got," Hattie answered. "Any other questions might be better asked to Brenda if you can ever find her. I just want to make sure your being here doesn't put my niece in danger. I'm not sure what kind of mindset Greg is in."

"Honestly, neither am I anymore. He gave me this story of wanting to find his other daughter to get an chance to be the kind of father to her that he wasn't to me, but it's clear that was bs."

"And you're sure he doesn't know you're here?"

"Positive."

"Good. Because that's the last thing Savvy needs right now."

"What is?"

Hilary and Devon spun around in their seats to see who the voice coming from behind them belonged to. Standing in front of them was the teenage version of Hilary. Brown skin with long black hair pulled into a ponytail. She stood about 2 inches shorter than Hilary but with almost identical bone structure. It was like looking into a time capsule. Hilary stood and stared into the girl's dark eyes as tears started to well up in her own. "Hi, Savannah..." her voice cracked. "I'm Hilary. It's nice to finally meet you."


	9. Chapter 9

"Do you need to sit down?"

Hilary, with the help of Devon and Hattie had just spent close to an hour filling Savannah in on everything going on in her life without her knowledge. So, she wasn't surprised when Savannah ignored her question. All she could really do is stand there shell-shocked. And the more she went over everything she was just told, the angrier she got. And the angrier she got, the more emotional she got. To the point where without saying a word, she abruptly turned and bolted out of the kitchen and into the living room. Hattie, knowing her niece, stayed in the kitchen to give her a moment. Devon did the same and nodded to Hilary to follow after her.

"Savannah…" Hilary approached slowly. "I know that this is a lot to take in. Underneath your anger, I'm sure you have some questions. I can answer them as best as I can."

"I just don't understand any of this," Savannah said barely above a whisper.

"I want to make sure I'm clear on everything too. Your mother never told you any of this? Do you even remember Greg?"

"A little. Mostly I remember how frantic my mom was around the time he disappeared. But she didn't talk about him after that. And I knew better than to ask."

Hilary looked at her sister trying to read her emotions. She wanted to approach her in a way that wouldn't scare her off but she also wanted to engulf her in this sudden wave of love that washed over her the moment she saw her face. Instead, she decided to let Savannah come to her. She took a seat in an arm chair and waited for her to sit on the sofa across from her. To her surprise, she did so within seconds.

"So… You're my sister?" She asked staring at the floor.

"I am," Hilary smiled.

"You didn't know about me?"

"No. Not until very recently. And I immediately started looking for you."

"That guy in there, that's your husband?"

"Well.. no, not exactly. I mean, we're divorced… but together. It's a long story," Hilary chuckled. "Maybe I can tell you about it one day."

Savannah smiled. "You seem nice."

"So do you."

"You look like me."

"I noticed."

Savannah caught herself staring at Hilary in that moment and diverted her eyes. 16 years of uncertainty and lack of stability had left her closed off to most. But there was something in her that wanted to reach out to Hilary. To tell her that although she hadn't known about her, she had always wished there was someone out there that she could turn to. She had often wondered about her father too. The short time that he was in her life, Savannah didn't remember him being the most warm-hearted guy. She remembered him being a recluse at best. And then a ghost. "Is he dangerous?"

"Greg? I really don't know. What I do know is that you don't have to worry about that. There's no way in hell I would ever let him hurt you."

"What about my mom?"

"Well, honestly that's a different story. No one seems to know where she is. And if you think about it, if his anger is aimed at her, not knowing her whereabouts may be for the best."

"I guess…"

Hilary looked around the living room finally noticing all the clutter and boxes everywhere. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure,' Savannah replied.

"Are you ok here? I mean, are you happy? Well taken care of?"

"Yeah," she shrugged.

"So what's this about you skipping school?" Hilary smirked.

"Really?" Savannah laughed. "You've been here all of 20 minutes and you're grilling me already?"

"Hey, that's what big sisters are for."

"Sister… that's kind of crazy."

"Yeah it is." Hilary smiled. "You know what that means, right?"

"No, what?"

"It means if there is anything that you ever need, you can tell me. I don't care what it is."

Savannah grew silent and started staring at the floor again. "You asked about my skipping school."

"Yeah?"

"It's not that I want to or anything. My aunt thinks I'm running with the wrong crowd, but I'm not. Its just… Nothing. Never mind."

Hilary got up from the chair and sat down next to her sister on the couch. "Listen, I get it. Despite the sibling resemblance, you don't know me. Opening up to strangers isn't easy. So if you want to talk to me about anything, I'll listen. If you don't, I'll just sit here with you."

Savannah finally looked up at Hilary. "You're so pretty."

"So are you."

"No, I'm not. I mean look at me." Savannah said tugging at her worn down discolored sweater. "The other girls at school never pass up a chance to point it out either. They talk about my clothes and my hair. They call me a thrift store orphan."

Hilary could feel her fist begin to tighten. She wanted to ask Savannah for their names and locations knowing fully well that beating up someone's child would land her in jail. Instead, she took a deep breath and placed her hand on top of her sisters. "I know this may seem hard to believe, but I went through the same thing at your age."

"Really?" Savannah asked skeptical.

"Yes, really!" Hilary laughed. "High school was torture for me. But I was also dealing with a lot of other things. Family things. So by the time I made it to school and those other girls started picking on me, I just didn't care. I learned to ignore them until graduation and then I ran away as far as I could get. I know it sounds cliché, but it will get better."

"You're right, it does sound cliché." Savannah chuckled.

"Ok, well how about this, how about the two of us get out of here and go have a girl's day. Hair, nails, shopping. All of it."

Savannah's eyes lit up. Often times she had watched girls with their mothers and sisters out and about doing just that and wished she had someone to do that with herself. This woman sitting next to her had known her for only an hour and was already offering her kindness that she hadn't experienced before in her life. It filled her with mixed emotions. On one hand, she was grateful. Even excited. But there was another part of her that was festering anger and resentment for this part of her life being kept from her for so long. And that anger she felt started to boil over the minute she saw her aunt enter the room.

"So yall talked it out or what?" Hattie asked picking up a carton of cigarettes from the coffee table.

"How could you?" Savannah said standing up from the couch. "You've known all of this the whole time and never said anything!"

"First of all little girl, you need to watch your tone. I don't have to answer you. Some things aren't meant for a child's ears."

"So, if they didn't show up here today, you never would have told me?"

"Hell no."

"What kind of a person does that make you?"

Hattie took the cigarette out of her mouth and set it in the ashtray. The look in her eyes almost made Hilary jump up and stand in front of Savannah as a shield. "What kind of person does that make me? It makes me the kind of person who took your ass in when your mother didn't want you."

"Ok, that's enough," Hilary said injecting.

"No. You're in my house. I'll say what I damn well please. Because it's true. Brenda dropped this girl off on me in the middle of the night because she couldn't deal with her own sins. Because she didn't know how to be a mother. And what did I get in return? And ungrateful little bitch who doesn't know a child's place."

"I said, that's enough!" Hilary said jumping in Hattie's face.

"Oh…" Hattie said stepping back with a smirk on her face. "So you bad huh?"

"Ok, ok. Let's all just take a breath here for a moment." Devon said gently pulling at Hilary's arm. "We're all trying to process a lot right now. Hilary, let's just give them a minute."

"What the hell is wrong with you?' Hilary asked once she and Devon where back in the kitchen. "That woman is clearly off her rocker."

"I'm not going to disagree with you, there. But matching fire with fire is going to do nothing but torch this entire situation to the ground. We need to come at her in a different way."

"You just don't get it." Hilary said pacing the floor.

"Get what?"

"This environment. This house… Devon, I grew up in a house like this."

Devon gently nodded his head and pulled Hilary into his arms. "I know."

"I can't leave her here."

"I don't know that we have a choice in the matter."

"There's always a choice."

"And there's always consequences too. You don't have the legal right to just snatch this girl out of here. And if you did, have you forgotten who is waiting for her back in Genoa City?"

"Well then what?" Hilary's voice began to crack. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, babe. I honestly don't know."

"Maybe I can reason with Hattie."

"Yeah, I don't think so."

"Well, I have to try." Before Devon could protest, Hilary walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room. To her surprise, Hattie and Savannah were sitting on the couch next to each other significantly calmer than they were when Hilary had left them. "Is everything ok?"

"Peachy," Hattie snarked.

"Savannah?" Hilary asked

"Yeah, we're good."

Hilary was unconvinced but the sudden shift but decided not to push it any further. "Ok. So, about that girl's day?"

"Savvy has homework to do. And chores." Hattie interrupted.

"We won't be long."

"And I don't care."

"Hattie…" Hilary clenched her teeth remembering Devon's advice. "I apologize for stepping out of line in your house. But please try to understand where I'm coming from. My mother was all the family that I had for so long. So when she died, that was it. And then out of the blue, I find out that I have this little sister. And there she is. She's right there. Close enough for me to touch. I know it doesn't make any sense… but I love her already. I just want to spend some time with her. To get to know her. Please."

Savannah looked up at Hilary with tears in her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to grab her things and leave with her and never look back. But she knew that wasn't possible. She looked over at her aunt who gave her a look that was hard for Hilary to read. Savannah stood up, wiped her face and walked over to Hilary. She wrapped her arms around her neck and held on tighter than she probably should have. "Thank you for coming. It really was nice meeting you. But I think you should go now."

"Savannah…" Hilary began to plead.

"You heard her," Hattie said also standing up and walking towards the door.

"Look at me." Hilary brought Savannah's face up to hers so they were looking eye to eye. "If you want me to go, I will. But you have to promise me that you're safe here. Promise me."

"I am. I promise." Savannah forced a smile to convince her sister of her lie.

Hilary grabbed her purse, pulled out a business card and wrote her personal cell phone number on the back. "If you ever need anything, you call me, ok?"

"I will."

"I mean it, Savannah. Anything."

"Savvy. My friends call me Savvy."

"I can see that. It suits you."

"You're on TV?" Savannah asked looking over the card. "So, you're like famous or something?"

"Kind of but not really. Another story for us to share one day." Hilary smiled.

"We should go," Devon said noticing how impatient Hattie was becoming by the door. "It was very nice meeting you Savannah."

"You too."

"Ok, well…" Hilary knew she had to go but couldn't get her legs to move. So she pulled her sister into another hug. "I meant what I said. Anything. Anytime. Anyplace. You call me and I will be there. I promise." Hilary finally got the strength to pull away from her sister and begin walking towards the door.

"Hilary," Savannah called after her.

"Yes?"

"I know it doesn't make any sense… but I love you too."

Hilary smiled as the tears began to streak down her face. After years of feeling like she was alone in this world, she finally had a piece of her family to cling on to. Turning around and walking out of that house was one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

After Hattie closed the door behind her, Savannah collapsed onto the couch and started crying into a pillow.

"Girl, stop being so damn dramatic." Hattie huffed as she lit another cigarette. "You did what was best."

After a few minutes, Savannah finally managed to pull herself together and glare at her aunt with discontent. "I did it ok. I got them to leave like you told me to. Now tell me where my mother is."


	10. Chapter 10

_"_ _I know it doesn't make any sense, but I love you too.."_

 _I love you too._ Hilary kept replaying the words over and over in her head. It had been a week since she and Devon left Savannah in Atlanta and she was still just as upset as she was the moment she was forced to walk away from her little sister. She had tried her best to get back to her life but the ache was still lingering in the pit of her stomach. When she wasn't getting distracted by it at work, she simply hid herself away in her suite at the GCAC refusing to deal with the world. Often times she was joined by Devon who tried his best to cheer her up. This night was no different as she sat on the window sill staring out on to the snowy streets of Genoa City. She looked back at Devon sound asleep in their bed and silently thanked God she had him back in her life. As strong as she carried herself, she knew she wouldn't have been able to deal with all of this without him. He was her rock and had once again taken on more than he was required to.

Hilary adjusted her blanket over her shoulders and leaned back on to the widow. She wasn't sure how long she'd been there or what time it was as this wasn't the first night that sleep had eluded her. She had spent almost every night stirring around her suite careful not to wake Devon. Sometimes she worked on the show, but most times she just stared out the window clutching her phone waiting for Savannah to call. That call still hadn't come. So all she had left was the nagging feeling of uncertainty. She knew that Devon was right in Atlanta. She couldn't just rip Savannah away from her home. But she was beginning to kick herself for not trying. For not putting up a fight. But then what? She would bring Savannah back to Genoa City and right into the waiting clutches of Greg?

Hilary couldn't do that either. When she and Devon returned from Atlanta, Greg cornered her immediately about where she'd been and why she hadn't been answering his calls. She lied and said she was in New York for another commercial shoot. Whether he believed her or not, Hilary didn't know and honestly didn't care. She also told him that the private investigator still hadn't found anything but Hilary knew that lie wouldn't hold water for much longer. She had to come up with something else. Something to send him another direction and keep him out of her face.

"Hilary…?" Devon called out in the darkness after reaching over to pull her into his arms and realizing that she wasn't there.

"I'm here," Hilary replied.

Devon sat up in the bed still half asleep and let his eyes roam the suite until he noticed her shadow by the window. He reached over to the nightstand to look at his phone. "Babe, its 3am. How long have you been up?"

"I never really went to sleep," she sighed.

Devon shook off his slumber, crawled out of bed and walked across the room. "Again?"

"You noticed?"

"Of course I did. I sleep best when my face is buried in your hair," he chuckled. "I always know when you're not next to me. I didn't say anything at first because I knew you needed the time to process this. But baby, you need your rest."

"I know. I just can't seem to shut my thoughts off."

"Come here," Devon took Hilary by the hand and led her over to the couch. He laid down on the sofa and pulled Hilary on top of him. With her head resting on his chest, he pulled the blanket over them and began stroking her hair. "Do you remember what you were wearing the first time we met?"

"Umm.. no," she giggled.

"It was at Mattie and Charlies birthday party. You walked in wearing a black dress that stopped right above your knees, those sky-high heels of your and a red leather jacket. Your hair was straight, makeup minimal."

"Wow… I can't believe you remember that," Hilary smiled.

"I could never forget that moment. I think I knew that day that you were something special."

"Hate to question you, Devon but you were very much taken at that time."

"I was in a relationship, but I wasn't blind," he laughed. "You were stunning. You still are. Do you know that every time you enter a room, I forget to breathe for a split second? Not that I'm special in that regard or anything. I think you have that effect on everyone. I noticed it more than ever when we were married. The way men would stop dead in their tracks when we went out. Something like that probably should have made me jealous but it didn't. I was proud. Honored, even. The girl of everyone's dreams was all mine. I know we've been through our ups and downs but I promise you, I will never stop looking at you with wonderment. Hilary…?"

Devon looked down and noticed that she was fast asleep. He placed a kiss on the top of her head and tightened his arms around her body. "Sleep well, my love."

* * *

"Mm... You smell amazing," Devon said walking up behind Hilary and wrapping his arms around her waist as she was doing her makeup.

"Thank you," She giggled at the feeling of his beard on her neck as he ran his lips from her earlobe to her shoulder. "Did you sleep ok? I can't imagine last night was the most comfortable thing for you."

"Are you kidding, it was amazing. If that's the only way to get you to rest, I will gladly volunteer every night. You missed one hell of a speech from me though."

"Really? Care you repeat it," She asked turning around wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Maybe another time. I do have a confession though."

"What's that?"

"I made breakfast plans for us."

"Oh, really? Breakfast in bed?"

"No. I think it's time we get out of this room. While you were in the shower, I called Neil and Lily over to the club."

"You did?" Hilary dropped her arms and tensed up.

"I did, but relax. It's not a big deal. I thought about it last night. Just seems like maybe keeping this from them wasn't the best idea. They aren't stupid. I'm pretty sure they suspect something is up anyway."

"Hmm… and who told you that when you initially came up with this idea?"

"Are you really going to make me say it?"

"Come on, you can do it," Hilary joked.

"Yes Hilary, you were right," He sighed.

"Ha! Thank you thank you. Do I have time to give an acceptance speech?"

"You're terrible, you know that?" Devon laughed.

"Yes, but I'm sure your father and sister will gleefully remind you."

"There's not going to be any of that, ok? Trust me on this. You have nothing to worry about."

"If you say so." Hilary had her apprehensions, but had to take Devon at his word. This time would be different. Regardless of Neil and Lily's disapproval, Devon's commitment to their relationship would remain unshakable. She held on to that hope as they finished getting ready and made their way down to the dining room. Hilary saw Neil and Lily waiting at a table before Devon did and reflexes caused her to yank her hand away from his.

Devon followed her eyes and saw his family waiting. He took Hilary's hand back into his and placed a kiss on her temple. "It's ok," he whispered.

Hilary's hesitation when Devon began to walk her over to the table surprised her. She wasn't normally this nervous about anything. And at the end of the day, Lily and Neil's feelings about her didn't matter to her in the least. So, she wasn't quite sure what to make of the butterflies in her stomach.

"Good morning," Devon said when they reached the table. "Glad you could join us."

"Us?" Lily said already annoyed. "You didn't mention it was an 'us' when you called this morning."

"Didn't I? Must have slipped my mind." Devon pulled out Hilary's chair before sitting himself.

The four sat at the table for a few moments, no one wanting to be the first to speak. "Well, this isn't awkward at all," Hilary finally spoke.

"Ok, so here's the deal" Devon said grabbing Hilary's hand and placing it on the table. "We're back together. That's really all there is to it. I know the two of you will have plenty to say, but before you do you should know that nothing you say is going to change that."

"And how long has this been going on?" Neil said finally chiming in.

"About a month or so. Around the time Hilary's father came back."

"So, you've been lying to us for a month?" Lily asked.

"I suppose you could look at it that way..."

"And you don't see anything wrong with that? You two started on a lie the first time and here we are yet again. You letting her convince you to lie to us again."

"First of all Lily, She didn't convince me to do anything. It was my idea to keep it from you guys. She hated the idea but went along with it because I asked her to. And this, right now, is exactly why."

"Whatever, are we done here?" Lily asked.

"No, we're not." Devon replied.

"Devon, it's ok" Hilary said. "This is what we expected, right?"

"No, it's not ok." Devon returned his attention to his sister. "Do you remember the conversation that we had at Crimson Lights."

"I do. And?'

"And I thought we came to an understanding. I thought I got through to you."

"I heard you out, but you have to realize that there's nothing you can say or do that's going to make me believe that this woman is good enough for you."

"Lily, that's enough," Neil interjected.

"It's the truth. Why you aren't saying it too, I don't know. Did you already know about this?"

"It's not my place. And it's not yours either. And no, I didn't know but I can't say that I'm surprised."

"I only have one question," Lily said taking a deep breath to steady the anger in her voice. "How do you know? This woman came to town lying, she lied when she got with Dad, the lied when she fell into bed with you, she lied almost every chance she got while you were married, she lies just as easily as she breathes. So how do you know that this time won't be different? How can you trust that she won't lie to you again?"

Hilary looked over at Devon in anticipation of his answer. She couldn't wait to see the confidence on his face when he told Lily how much he loved her and how his trust in her had been restored. She was eager to see the look of certainty and assurance in his decision. Her heart dropped like a safe when what she was looking for wasn't what she saw. For a second, a brief fleeting moment that no one else would have noticed, she saw doubt in Devon's eyes. Those beautiful eyes she knew so well. She felt him shift somewhat in his seat and his grip on her hand loosen ever so slightly. It was happening again. He was letting them pull him away from her.

"I can answer that," Hilary said abruptly. "For some strange reason, the two of you don't believe in people's ability to change. Let me rephrase that. You don't believe in MY ability to change. And you know what, I get that. I have moments of selfishness and insecurity, but there is nothing that has impacted my look on life more than watching the man that I love with all of my heart flatline in a hospital bed. That moment shook me to my core. And I vowed that from that day on, I would do what was best for him. That's why I didn't contest the divorce. I loved him enough to let him be happy without me. But he wasn't. And neither was I. I'm sure that means nothing to you, but it's all I have to offer."

Neil looked over to Lily who wasn't buying a single word Hilary was selling. "I have done some terrible things in my life. And those things weren't that long ago. Some of those things to Hilary. And I have been forgiven. I think she deserves the same."

"Lily?" Devon asked finally speaking up.

"We'll see." She replied.

"Well… that's something, I guess."

"Yeah. Anyway, I have a meeting at the twins school to get to." Lily gathered her things and stood up from the table. "I hope you know what you're doing," she said before walking out.

"We should probably go too," Neil said. "We have that conference call in 10."

"Ok, I'll be right up." Devon watched Neil disappear out of the dining room and up the stairs before turning back to Hilary. "That went better than we thought."

"Did it?" Hilary asked concerned.

"I think it did. No drinks were thrown so I would say that was progress."

Hilary took Devon's hand into hers and held it against her heart. "I meant what I said. You know that don't you?"

"Of course," he smiled.

Hesitation. Hilary saw it again. "And you trust that what happened before, what I did to ruin us will never happened again, right?"

"Yes, I know."

Doubt. Hilary could see it even as Devon tried to divert his eyes from hers. "Devon…"

"I really do need to get upstairs to this call. I'll see you later, ok?" Devon rose from the table, placed a kiss on top of Hilary's head and walked away before she could respond.

Hilary sat at the table for a few minutes mulling over the shift in Devon's demeanor before retreating to her suite. Once in her room she began pacing the floor. The more she thought about the doubt she saw in Devon's eyes, the more panicked she became. He promised her. He promised that no matter what, he would always be on her side. Why didn't he say that? Why did he just sit there? Why did he pull away from her? "This can't be happening. Not again," she said to herself.

Hilary flashed back to leaving Savannah behind in Atlanta. How much more could she lose? She didn't have her mother, she found and lost her sister in a span of a few hours and her father was no better at being a father now than he was when she was a child. All she had left was Devon. If he was skeptical of her now after everything he'd seen her through in the past month, how long would it take him to walk away again and this time for good?

Hilary walked over to her purse on the desk and began rummaging through it like a mad woman. "Where is it?!" She turned the purse upside down and began shaking the contents on to the floor. She fell to her knees and began sifting through makeup, receipts and other objects that were in her way. There it was. She climbed back to her feet holding the small plastic pouch containing her birth control pills. She had a brief moment of déjà vu to the last time she was faced with this same decision. This time was different. This time she was sure. She had to do everything in her power to hold on to the man that she loved. "I can't lose him again," she said as she tossed the pills into the trashcan. "I can't and I won't."


	11. Chapter 11

"I hear you, but we set a date and your company needs to adhere to it. Period." Devon could feel himself growing tired of the person on the other end of the phone as he paced the HWG offices. "That's not was I was told and I am not paying you to lie to me. So whatever you need to do on your end, I suggest you figure it out."

"Wow," Neil said entering the office just as Devon was hanging up. "What was that about?"

Devon took a minute to calm his anger and sat down at his desk. "The contractor at the Barber Center. All of the sudden, all these last minute costly issues are coming up a month from the grand reopening."

"How convenient," Neil smirked.

"Exactly."

"So, is that all?"

"What do you mean?" Devon asked.

"Just want to make sure that's all that bothering you. You've seemed a little on edge lately. At least since we had breakfast with you and Hilary a couple days ago."

Devon shook his head, "No, I'm fine."

"Yeah ok. You know if you want to talk about this thing with Hilary, we can."

"Even if there was something to talk about there, I don't think talking about it with you would be a great idea. And I think you know why."

"That's understandable," Neil nodded taking Devon's less than subtle hint to keep his opinions to himself. "So, getting back to work, do we have to change the press release on the rec center event?"

"No, nothing is changing. I just have to go over there to really get my point across. I would however maybe look for another contractor in the meantime. Just in case."

"Got it. Also, we need to talk about the streaming numbers on Tessa's EP."

"You got them?"

"Yeah, I got the email as I pulled up. You should have them too but you probably haven't checked since you were railing on drywallers," Neil chuckled.

Devon opened his laptop and searched for the email in question. "Seriously?"

"My words exactly." Neil said sitting at his desk and opening the same email.

"Are these total numbers or just the numbers from the people subscribed to her artist page?"

"Total numbers."

Devon ran his hand over his face in frustration. "I don't get how this went so bad so fast. The singles that we've been putting out had a great response."

"According to this report, even those have tapered off. I think we need to face the facts on this."

"She's not worth the trouble," Devon said finishing Neil's thought.

"Exactly."

"I was really hoping that it wouldn't come to this. But between her involvement in her sister's crimes and the fact that subscribers don't seem to be very moved by her, it's becoming a lose lose situation."

"That it is. Do you want me to break it to her?"

"No, I'll go do that now." Devon stood up and grabbed his coat.

"I'll draft an announcement in the meantime but I'll sit on sending it out until you approve it." Neil said.

"Thanks. I'll be back later." Devon made his down to the lobby and was about to head out the door before practically crashing into Hilary coming in.

"Hey," Hilary beamed. "Nice running into. Literally."

"I'm sorry," Devon smiled. "In kind of a rush."

"I see that. I'd hate to think you were avoiding me." Hilary frowned.

"Why would you think that?"

Hilary shrugged and stared down at her feet. Things between them seemed to cool in the days since their little family breakfast which was leaving Hilary more insecure and paranoid than ever before. "I just haven't seen much of you lately."

Devon placed his hands on Hilary's hips, pulled her body into his and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I'm sorry."

"I miss you like crazy," she whispered pressing her forehead against his.

"I miss you too, baby. I know I've been all over the place. Between this issues with the rec center and now this information I just got…"

"Anything I can help with?"

"No, there's not. But you're right. Our relationship has to be a priority too. I'll do better at making that happen."

"You promise?" Hilary asked seductively.

"I do… as soon as I go take care of something."

"Well, I'll be here." Hilary replied trying not to sound disappointed.

"I'll see you later." Devon placed a kiss on Hilary's head and went out the doors before she could even respond.

"I love you," she whispered to herself as she watched Devon disappear on the other side. She stood for a moment hoping he would turn around and say it back. Disappointed when he didn't, Hilary pouted her way into the in the dining room where she saw Phyllis waving her over to a table. "Hey," she said unenthusiastically taking a seat.

"Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Phyllis joked.

"Well, every side is the wrong side when you're waking up alone."

"Can't argue with you here. I could see a little bit of that exchange with Devon just now. You guys ok?"

"I... I honestly don't know." Hilary burying her head in her hands trying to stop herself from breaking down.

"Hey, none of that," Phyllis said grabbing her friend hands from her face and holding them in her own. "talk to me. What's going on?"

Hilary took a deep breath to stead her emotions. "I'm not sure where to begin. It just feels like everything is snowballing right now. I feel like I'm losing him again."

"What makes you say that?"

Hilary spent the next several minutes going over everything that happened from finding and losing her sister to the uncomfortable breakfast they had with Lily and Neil and how Devon's mood seemed to change when he was questioned about his trust in Hilary. "You should have seen his face, Phyllis. It was like he knew deep down that he couldn't trust me."

"But did he say that?"

"Of course not. He didn't need to. I know that man better than he knows himself. I can tell what he's feeling. The slightest shift in his mood, I notice all of that."

"Ok, so can I offer you some real talk?"

"I'd expect nothing less from you."

"I don't doubt what you're saying about his reaction, but I'm concerned your letting your emotions from one situation impact this one. I can see how upset you are about having to leave Savannah in Atlanta."

"I hate it. I never knew I could miss someone this much after only meeting them once."

"And maybe you're allowing that to affect this."

Hilary sat for a moment and considered what Phyllis was saying. Maybe Hilary was overreacting. Maybe just like she was worried that Devon couldn't trust her to be honest with him, she was having problems trusting him not to leave her again. "Omg, you're right."

"I have my moments every now and then," Phyllis smiled.

"I did it again. I overreacted and did something stupid."

"Wait, what did you do?"

"Well…"

"Well, what?"

"I kind of, maybe, sort of.."

"Hilary… Out with it."

"I threw out my birth control pills."

"You didn't."

"Oh, I did."

"Hilary," Phyllis said shaking her head.

"I know, I know. I just, panicked. The thought of losing him again, I couldn't stand it."

"And you thought a baby would keep him."

"I know it would. Before we broke up, we talked about having a baby. He was so excited about the idea."

"I'm sure he was, but also remember what led up to the breakup in the first place. Your lying to him. And take it from me, a baby does not keep a man if he doesn't want to be there. I know from experience."

"Well, no harm no foul I suppose. Devon has barely touched me since that day anyway."

"Ok, well here's my last bit of advice before I head to the office. Talk to Devon. You hear me?"

"Yes."

"I mean it Hilary. Actually talk to him. Don't jump to conclusions. Have a conversation with him about how you feel. You might be surprised by his response."

"I hear you. Thank you Phyllis. You know how alcoholics have sponsors? You're like my bad decision sponsor."

Phyllis buckled over in laughter. "That's one way of looking at it. And I'm glad to be that for you."

* * *

"This should get his attention," Hilary said to herself as she modeled a new skin tight, spaghetti strapped dress in the mirror of her suite. After her talk with Phyllis, she decided to take the advice and really talk to Devon about her feelings. Before that, she put in a call to the pharmacy to refill her birth control pills. She couldn't believe she thought a baby would cement Devon to her. If anything, it would likely push him away. They hadn't been back together long enough or made any real plans about their future. Springing a baby on him would have been a disaster and she knew it. That didn't mean she wouldn't push the issue of their future though. With so many uncertainties in her life, she had to make sure her relationship with Devon was moving forward.

Hilary's heart jump at the sound of the knock on the door. She couldn't believe he still had that affect on her. She ran her hands through her hair, straightened out her dress and applied another layer of lipstick before heading to the door. "Took you long enough," she said expecting to see Devon as she swung the door open.

"Bad time?" Greg asked.

"Seriously?" Hilary said annoyed. "I don't have time for this right now."

"Oh, you'll make time." Greg walked past Hilary before she could force the door closed.

"Fine. What do you want? And make it quick. Devon will be here any minute."

"Oh, this won't take long. I just want to know how long you intended on lying to me about my Savannah."

Hilary shifted her weight from one foot to another and became visibly nervous. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Sure you do. You really think I bought that story about you going to New York?"

"I have no reason to lie to you."

"No? Funny, because I went by the studio today. That red headed girl said I had just missed you. Nice girl. Not very bright though. When I mentioned how I was having a hard time meeting up with you since you came back from your commercial shoot, she looked at me like I was crazy.

Hilary felt her heart begin to sink and held onto the door nob to keep herself upright.

"According to her, you went out of town on family business. So tell me… where did you go, Hilary?"

"Listen, I told Mariah what I needed to tell her to get her to mind her business. My outside ventures aren't any of her business as long as they don't affect the show. So you're wasting your time. Now, can you please leave?"

Greg nodded his head, took a seat on the sofa and reached into his waistband. "I am going to ask you this one more time. So choose your words very carefully" He warned as he pulled out a gun and placed it on the coffee table in front of him. "Where the hell is my daughter?"


End file.
